Wildfires turn canoe trip into helicopter rescue

The next time Kathy Jones heads out for a canoe trip in the backcountry, she’ll make sure somebody knows.

She was part of a group canoeing in northern Saskatchewan when nearby wildfires forced them to end the voyage early.

Speaking to the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Thursday, Jones said they started at the Warner Rapids north of La Loche and started heading down the Clearwater River.

“When we started our long portage, we didn’t know anything was going on. There was no helicopters. There was no smoke in the area,” Jones said.

“We didn’t realize how much smoke was there until we loaded up our canoes and paddled across the lake and looked back and saw kind of smoke billowing from the area of the trail we had just finished.”

Jones said they had no cellphone service and they didn’t have a satellite phone. They did have a device that could send text messages through satellite communication so they messaged family to alert the local authorities. At this point, they discovered that the fire was close by.

“Definitely concerned but felt better after letting people know where we were and kind of focusing on recovery,” she said.

“That was probably the hardest portage any of us have ever done.”

Aircraft were circling the area and eventually, firefighters landed and walked up to their camp. Jones said the firefighters were surprised to find them.

“The message that we had sent hadn’t got to any of them yet so they were there to light that backburn,” Jones said.

“They were prepared to light it when one of the crew members happened to spot a tent on the shoreline. So thank goodness for the bright coloured orange tent that he found.”

The group was helicoptered out. Everybody was safe.

Jones said next time they’ll make sure somebody knows they’re out in the backcountry.

“I think the result would have been the same, we would have had to be rescued, but they wouldn’t have happened on us. They would have known we were there. So, would have been a better situation.”