Parts of Narrow Hills Provincial Park burned by wildfire, closed to public

A provincial park known for its beautiful hiking trails around picturesque lakes is closed due to wildfires in the area, and the status of the trails is unknown.

Narrow Hills Provincial Park, about 130 kilometres northeast of Prince Albert, was closed on Friday afternoon as a "public safety measure," according to a notice posted on the Saskatchewan Parks website.

All highways in and around the park are also closed.

One of the park's attractions is the Gem Lakes Trail, which goes over the hills above the Gem Lakes — deep lakes that reflect shades of emerald, jade and aqua blue.

The main fire affecting the area, named the "Shoe" fire, was listed at a size of 14,500 hectares as of Monday morning. Lower Fishing Lakes and Caribou Creek have been evacuated, and fire crews, heavy equipment, helicopters and air tankers are all involved in fighting the fire.

It was one of 16 active fires in the province as of Monday afternoon. 

Improved weather helped crews contain the fire, said Bryan Chartrand, executive director of land operations with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency.

"With the conditions kind of cooling off this week, the wind dying down a little bit and with the chance of some possible moisture … the fire intensity has decreased and that's definitely helping the situation, giving us valuable time to get around and have this thing contained," Chartrand said.

The fire hasn't come close to any park infrastructure, but one private cabin and two outbuildings in the area did burn down, he added.

So far this year there have been 146 wildfires in Saskatchewan, well above the five-year average of 81 for this date.

"We've had a lot of fires early this year, very similar to what we experienced last year, and I hope we don't continue on that trend because last year was very busy for us," Chartrand said.

Another wildfire of note, as of Monday's update, was burning at Keeley Lake, north of Green Lake. Keeley Lake is about 100 kilometres north of Meadow Lake, which is about 300 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.

Crews have the fire here contained as there's been no significant growth for four days, Chartrand said, adding that the fire destroyed eight cabins.

Chartrand advised people using the forest for recreation or work to remain vigilant, even if an expected rain happens this week.

"That's going to be really localized and scattered so just because it may rain on your cabin or within your community, five miles down the road there may not be any showers or rain and those conditions are going to continue to be extreme and easily ignitable," Chartrand said.

Quebec's forest fire prevention agency sent reinforcements to Saskatchewan on Sunday, including two CL-415 firefighting aircraft headed to Meadow Lake.

The third wildfire of note in the SPSA's bulletin was north of Snowden, Sask., which is about 90 kilometres east of Prince Albert. It's causing the "temporary intermittent" closure of Highway 106 in the area.

Smoke from wildfires was also affecting the air quality in some east-central parts of the province Monday, including Nipawin, Carrot River and Candle Lake Provincial Park.