Geography and Environment

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The 1999 Mallard fire: Lessons learned
(The Faculty of Health Sciences - The University of Lethbridge, 2010) Kulig, Judith Celene; Kimmel, A.; Gullacher, A.; Reimer, B.; Townshend, Ivan; Edge, Dana; Lightfoot, Nancy; McKay, M.; Barnett, M.; Clague, J.; Coghlan, A.
La Ronge is located in northern Saskatchewan on the shore of Lac La Ronge. It is adjacent to the Lac La Ronge Indian band and the northern village of Air Ronge. La Ronge is the largest community in northern Saskatchewan with over 2700 people residing in the town, 2000 people on the adjacent First Nations lands of the Lac la Ronge Indian band, and approximately 1000 people residing in the bordering Métis settlement of Air Ronge. La Ronge acts as the service centre for almost all of Northern Saskatchewan. Firefighters battled the Mallard Fire that caused the evacuation of the entire community of La Ronge on May 27, 1999. The fire, which was started by lightning, stretched over a distance of 8 kilometres and it took one week, 248 firefighters, and several water bombers to extinguish it. The damage included the destruction of 8 homes in Eagle Point, 1 trailer on Riese Drive and 1 bush home. Some commer-cial buildings were also destroyed within the town boundaries; however, no injuries were reported.