Gull Lake Firefighters Return After Intense Northern Deployment
- Gull Lake Events
- Jun 12
- 2 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
By Gull Lake Events • 12 June 2025
Gull Lake, SK — The Gull Lake firefighters are safely back home after a June 3–7 mission near Pelican Narrows, where they helped contain one of northern Saskatchewan’s first major wildfires of 2025. Stacy Schmidt, Kara Dyer, Kyle Rozel, and Tim Temoshawsky traded prairie grasslands for heavy smoke and a highway so hot that flames brushed the pavement
Gull Lake Firefighters’ Week in the Burn Zone
Date | Key Events |
Tue June 3 | Departed Gull Lake at dawn; escorted through a closed stretch of highway where the fire had crowned to asphalt. |
Wed – Fri | Patrolled the fire’s outer edge, protected remote hunting and fishing camps, and knocked down dozens of hotspots. |
Sat June 7 | Demobilized and returned to Gull Lake later that day. |
Beyond the Flames
Wildlife impact – Forest fires can harm wildlife in several well-documented ways: smoke inhalation, burns, dehydration from intense heat, disorientation that may push animals onto roads, and long-term habitat and forage loss once the vegetation is gone.
Hotspot duty – The crew spent their shifts shielding hunting and fishing camps and dousing flare-ups beyond the main blaze, preventing small fires from reigniting larger fronts.
Why Their Work Matters
Boreal wildfires often “spot” — wind-borne embers can ignite new fires up to two kilometres (and occasionally farther) ahead of the main front. Small, mobile initial-attack crews like the Gull Lake firefighters act as rapid-response scalpels, extinguishing those spot fires to keep containment lines stable for heavier ground forces and water bombers.¹²
Gratitude All Around
Fire Chief Bentley Gibson thanked local employers for releasing staff during the busiest season. The four Gull Lake firefighters are now back in Gull Lake and available for future assignments if required.
¹ Natural Resources Canada, Wildfire Behaviour in the Boreal Forest: Spotting Distance Overview (2024 update).² Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, Initial Attack Crew Standards (2023).
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