SHELLBROOK — The Reeve for the RM of Shellbrook is grateful for the help neighbouring Rural Municipalities and residents have given as the area continues to deal with the Lobstick fire, located between Duck Lake and Prince Albert.
Christine Strube said R.M.s provided help through staff and contractors and people have donated food.
"I feel incredibly overwhelmed with gratitude, the support we're receiving from this amazing community and the local services and surrounding areas. It's been nothing short of astounding." said Strube. "We're truly blessed to live in a place where people show up for one another. And I'm using this statement 'better together' because it's the collaborative spirit that is showing just how strong our municipality can be when we work together."
In terms of the response, Strube said they were able to alert residents ahead of time and already had a contingency plan in place, since the area just overcame flooding issues.
"There's different resources you need – both was safety first," she said of the RM's emergency response, which is the same for flooding and fire.
"With our flood we had people who couldn't get out of their driveways or out of their roads, so they were stranded there. So, our first priority was getting those safe and looked after, then we went to getting all our services going in and allowing people to get to work, so getting our washed out roads fixed as quickly as we could. Right after that, it was getting our farmers back into the fields."
Strube noted one livestock producer closest to the Lobstick fire had to relocate the herd after just moving them to pasture.
The producer managed to get five bulls out and was trying to contain about 20 pair in that pasture, she said.
Adding to the strain was losing three miles of fence and a fire in the producer's yard "a week or two ago" where "he lost about $30,000 worth of hay bales in his yard", she said.
"It's difficult because he doesn't have another place to put them and he doesn't have the hay bales to feed them." Strube added.
Strube, who is also a Saskatchewan Cattle Association representative for District 9, also reached out to two producers she knew to see how they were doing.
"One of them said that his cattle are kind of in the vicinity of where they're trying to protect the power line or the transmission line, they call it. So he held off and is holding off on getting his cattle out for now. There's another fellow that's just south of Shellbrook and he would be on the outer edge of the evacuation area. He did evacuate himself, but he's been able to go back in and look after his cattle. He's also diligently working to deliver all of the food that the ladies in town are preparing for the firefighters. So he's been looking after them while also looking after his small herd at home."
On Monday afternoon, the R.M. of Shellbrook lifted its evacuation order, so residents are now being allowed to return home, but are urged to use caution when travelling, as hazards may still exist.
Overall, Strube believes they responded as well as they could have, given the circumstances.
