were burnt. The fire came within 2 km of La Ronge and burned completely around the La Ronge Airport making it difficult to fight the fire from air with smokey conditions and unreliable weather making the fight against the fires very difficult. In total there were over a hundred fires burning in Northern Saskatchewan at once which forced over 13,000 residents to flee their homes, resulting in the province's largest evacuation ever. The fires were caused by low precipitation in the winter and summer months and also high temperatures. Geography La Ronge is surrounded by several First Nations reserves, with the Northern Village of Air Ronge located just south of the community on Highway 2. With access to all other points north, east and west, and transportation linkage to the south, La Ronge is also the northern hub for the Saskatchewan provincial government. Climate La Ronge experiences a borderline subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc), slightly below the threshold of a humid continental climate. Winters are long, dry and very cold while summer is short, warm and wetter. Precipitation is low, with an annual average of 486.2 mm. The highest temperature ever recorded in La Ronge was on 23 August 1929. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 15 February 1936. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, La Ronge had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Population centre The La Ronge population centre, the thirteenth largest population centre in the province, comprises four adjoining census subdivisions including the Northern Town of La Ronge, the Northern Village of Air Ronge and the Kitsakie 156B and Lac La Ronge 156 Indian reserves of the Lac La Ronge First Nation. In the 2016 Census, Statistics Canada reported that the La Ronge population centre had a population of 5,671 living in 1,704 of its 1,927 total dwellings, a +6.6% change from its 2011 population of 5,318. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016. The following is a population breakdown of the La Ronge population centre by census subdivision. Economy Several mining companies, government agencies, and airlines now keep offices in La Ronge, and the local Chamber of Commerce has many other retail and service businesses amongst its