The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) says the majority of wildfires in northern Saskatchewan so far this year were human-caused and avoidable.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 21 active wildfires in the north and 205 wildfires reported year-to-date — making it one of the busiest early wildfire seasons in decades. The five-year average for this time of year is 124.
Of those fires, 10 are not contained, five are contained, five are under ongoing assessment, and one is listed as “protecting values.”
While the SPSA has not issued any evacuation orders, local municipalities in the north have evacuated thousands of residents. The SPSA also confirmed that cabins and other structures have been destroyed by the fires.
Steve Roberts, the SPSA’s vice-president of operations, said many of the fires were started by human activity such as debris burning near cabins, carelessness with ATVs and UTVs in dry grass, picnics and firepits placed in dry areas, and general inattention to fire conditions.
The SPSA has brought in extra firefighting resources from Alaska and Quebec and continues to reach out to partners for further support.
Roberts said their resources and firefighters are currently stretched thin.
“Based on what I’m hearing and experiencing, they’re tired,” he said. “Many of them are on their third shift on the fire line. That’s why we’re rotating them to get them rest. Unfortunately, in these conditions, we lose as often as we win. On any given day, today’s success can be erased tomorrow.”
The agency is hoping for rain to assist firefighting efforts in northern Saskatchewan, although lightning could make matters worse.
“Some of these large fires will take the entire season to monitor before they’re completely out,” Roberts said. “At some point, we’ll start to see lightning. On the positive side, some of that lightning may come with rain — which we haven’t seen in some time and would be very welcome right now.”
Due to the wildfire situation, the SPSA has placed fire bans on all vacant Crown land, provincial parks within the provincial forest, and anywhere within the Northern Saskatchewan Administrative District.
“It’s fairly obvious that Saskatchewan is in a very high hazard right now — with the fires we have and how fast they grow,” Roberts said. “People need to be doubly diligent not to start a fire. If you don’t need a fire, don’t start one.”
Roberts noted that conditions in southern Saskatchewan are not as severe, thanks to recent rainfall.
However, the SPSA’s fire weather index for Tuesday listed the Rural Municipality of Moose Jaw and rural municipalities to the north as “extreme.” The southeast corner of the RM of Baildon and areas south were rated as “high,” while pockets in the southwest — near the Alberta border in the RMs of White Valley and Arlington — were listed as “moderate.”
As for smoke, FireSmoke Canada’s forecast suggests that most wildfire smoke will drift northeast and should avoid southern Saskatchewan over the next few days.
For the latest updates on wildfires and fire danger maps, visit the SPSA website. For current smoke forecasts, visit FireSmoke Canada.