Southend, Sask., residents going home after evacuation order lifted

The Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN) has ended the evacuation order for Southend, Sask.,allowing the nearly 1,000 evacuees to return home after fleeing a wildfire last month.

The PBCN says the large Merkley fire that forced the evacuation is no longer a threat to Southend and it's safe to drive Highway 102 into the northern community.

The mandatory evacuation order was lifted early Thursday morning. Buses in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert will start taking residents home later in the day.

Southend's critical infrastructure and essential services are operational, the PBCN said in a news release.

Southend is about 600 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.

Earlier this week, officials lifted the evacuation order for Sandy Bay also a Peter BayllantyneCree Nation community and started to repatriate the roughly 1,800 residents forced to leave in early August.