Cole Paproski works as a Level III Water Operator with SaskWater, the provincial agency responsible to keep water flowing to communities and keep drinking water safe. Cole is also an Elder with La Ronge Alliance Church and has been providing pulpit supply for some months while the church seeks a new pastor. On May 21, 2025 the La Ronge airport was threatened with the ever-increasing dynamic fire known as the Pisew Fire ravaging northern Saskatchewan.
On June 2, Paproski evacuated his wife Denise’s family from Air Ronge. “We were in two vehicles, Denise, her two sisters and two cats were in one. I was in another vehicle with one cat and one dog.” They spent the night on a highway full of fleeing vehicles. “That night involved each car following the taillights of the car in front for miles and miles in smoke filled darkness,” recalled Cole. “There were accidents, abandoned vehicles, flat tires, radiator fluid stains in various places, some vehicles rims had fallen off.” He said some of the fleeing vehicles (“not ours”) had incinerated chunks of tree sap stuck in the exterior paint.
Their two vehicles arrived at Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan at 6 a.m. “My boss [back in La Ronge] told me that 'all was well' and that I could 'enjoy the family time,' [that was] until the next night [June 3] when Rona and Roberton's Trading Post burnt down [in La Ronge] along with 40 houses in the surrounding area. Management called and said to get to the water plant as soon as possible,”
Cole said.“I drove to Wakaw, parked my vehicle at their water plant on Wednesday [June 4] jumped into a half ton with trash pumps hundreds of feet of hose and headed north.” Cole was joined by Sheldon, who is also a Class III Water Operator. “God sure knows who to send!”Start counting. That’s miracle number one. Chaos greeted Cole and Sheldon at Thunder Hills south of Weyakwin. It is from this elevated vantage point the duo could see all the white volcanic plumes of smoke from the fires—“across the horizon as far as the eye [could see].” The view was accompanied by the sirens from emergency vehicles, and the eery light blinking hazard lights glowing through the heavy, smoke-filled air. A lawlessness pervaded as ‘rules of the road,’ were ignored. Drivers not staying within speed limits or obeying stop signs. All this while forty constables and the ‘Saskatchewan Marshals’ filled the town with their presence.
Cole and Sheldon headed to the La Ronge Water Plant which was nearly out of water when they arrived. “[The] filters were plugged and our water softener units (large) filtering 900 cubic meters, per vessel.** Sheldon looked at me and asked 'how long can this go on for?' I said 'not long!' [The] problem was to keep up with water demand the facility was running wide open thus the challenged condition of the equipment.”
The next day the two were ordered to secure a fire-proof perimeter around the water plant at [any and all] costs. A sprinkler system was put in place by the evening. Note, now, Cole had been awake and moving since June 2, it was now, June 5. Miracle number two. “The next day we did the same at our water booster station in Air Ronge although we were now short of fittings, so we got 'special permission' to break into a local hardware store and take stuff,” explained Cole.
When they got to the booster station, the exhaust from a back-up generator was glowing bright red. The unit running ‘full tilt’ just to keep up. Miracle number three. The super-heated metal did not explode. “Then by Friday [July 6] my boss needed a rest, which none of us really were able to adequately get therefore I took the 'on call' position for the weekend,” Cole said. “By Saturday the power came back on but the [power] grid had problems and the power supply was challenged with surges and brown outs. That caused our lake pump motor at La Ronge Water Plant to blow. SaskWater had two extra 30hp lake pumps that just couldn't keep up. Praise God for the extra-large lake pump which we installed four hours later and the boss woke up from sleep to give us a hand.”Miracle number four. Right equipment at the right time.“
The next day was Sunday [June 8] and the rain came and that changed everything,” recalled Cole. “The winds switched shortly after and some cool weather moved in the evacuation was lifted three days after I went back to the farm to pick up the family and then by that Sunday [June 15], I preached a Father's Day message at church. There was hardly any people [in attendance], but where two or three are gathered!” Still counting? That’s miracle number five, six, and seven. Rain, wind change, and a church still intact.
“[The] 2015 evacuation was nothing in comparison and people seem to be shaken. Tuesday night prayer group was last night [June 17]. Only three people came (two were late) so there is an in-gathering that I assume will be ongoing as things get back to normal and the fire actually isn't out yet south of town is still burning (editor’s note, this was as of: June 18 – the Pisew Fire still burns with less severity as of June 25). The La Ronge Alliance Church building was spared. “It [the fire] was three-quarters of a kilometre from the church,” he explained, “it hit an invisible wall.” Paproski shares that people lost homes, belongings and their sense of normalcy in this fire event. There was loss of life, injuries…“People can’t boast about tomorrow,” said Cole.
“People came back and didn’t even have homes.”
To illustrate the severity of the fire and heat, he said there are places where there was six inches of topsoil and “now it is just rock.” June 24, an outreach team walked the streets of downtown La Ronge engaging with 12 people and praying with three.
“Just as natural fire brings new growth, so does the fire of the spirit.”
Paproski has a sense that it is a good time to pray for a seeding of the gospel paired with a movement of the Holy Spirit within the community of La Ronge and surrounding area as people return, “shaken and stirred.” He also asks for continued prayers for rain.
“We need it.”
“Glad we have God in our lives,” enthused Cole. “And you should give me a call when you need to put out fires,… I have some good tips!”
* 'nearly completely being bypassed', explained: This means the water softeners were only passing four liters per second compared to [the normal] 55 litres per second. Therefore, a bypass valve was opened up to divert water away from those softeners to keep up the high flows because, simply put, the softeners were plugged.