Eight canoeists were airlifted from a campsite on the edge of Lake Rendezvous in Northwestern Saskatchewan, after finding themselves dangerously close to an active forest fire.
The group had set off on the famous Meythe Portage route from Clearwater River to Lake Rendezvous and were initially unaware of wildfire potential in the area.
“We pulled our canoes on carts and climbed up quite a steep set of hills,” said Kelly Kohlert in the video. “We noticed the smoke in the background.”
The background smoke soon became a real threat as the forest fire began to grow, with no signs of slowing down. The group continued on toward the lake and were able to successfully paddle across to their campsite. Once settled, they called for rescue and began to film the incident on their phones.
In the video, Helicopters can be seen flying through the plumes of smoke and toward the group. The rescue took place approximately four hours after they had finished their portage.
