skwildfires2025

The federal government is providing more than half a million dollars to boost wildfire training in Saskatchewan and Manitoba as the country faces another season of extreme fire conditions.

Corey Hogan, parliamentary secretary to Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson, announced Monday that $540,300 will be distributed to two projects under Ottawa’s Fighting and Managing Wildfires in a Changing Climate Program.

As of 9:30 am on Tuesday morning there are 60 active wildfires in the province according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA).  Of those active wildfires, eight are listed as contained, six are not contained, 33 are ongoing assessment and 13 are listed protecting values.  

So far this year, there have been 467 wildfires, well above the 5-year average of 382. 

Thousands are out of their homes, and many more are on alert to evacuate as wildfires continue to rage across Atlantic Canada.

Officials in Newfoundland and Labrador have expanded an evacuation alert along the Bay De Verde Peninsula as the Kingston wildfire burns nearby.

The community of Job's Cove in Newfoundland is affected by the expanded evacuation alert for the wildfire, which is considered out-of-control and is now more than 90 square kilometres in size.

The Kingston fire is the largest in the province and has forced more than 3,000 people from their homes.

Things seem to be cooling off on the wildfire front. 

Vice President of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency says following 5 mm to 20 mm of rainfall in the north, the fire ban has been rescinded as of Wednesday. Also, what once were the three most intense fires in the province, the Wolf, Shoe, and Ditch fires are now all considered contained. This means they aren’t expected to grow, but they aren’t necessarily out. 

Officials say the largest wildfire burning in Newfoundland and Labrador may have destroyed up to 100 homes and structures.

However, Premier John Hogan says it is still too dangerous for crews to get into the area to complete an accurate tally.

The fire burning along the northwestern shore of Conception Bay began on Aug. 3 near Kingston, N.L.,  and Hogan says it now measures more than eight square kilometres.

While it was a wet weekend for most of Saskatchewan, most of the rainfall didn’t reach their northern section of the province that is experiencing the wildfires.  

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency said in their latest wildfire update on Monday that the recent rainfall only had a limited impact on the wildfires.  

Canada's 2025 wildfire season is now the second-worst on record.

The latest figures posted by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre suggest the fires have torn through 72,000 square kilometres, an area roughly the size of New Brunswick.

That surpasses the next worst season in 1989 and is about half the area burned during the record-setting 2023 season, according to a federal database of wildfire seasons dating back to 1972.

The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs says it's time for Ottawa to stop studying the idea of a national forest fire co-ordination agency and take action.

The organization's president wants the federal government to take inspiration from the U.S. Fire Administration to establish a similar office in Canada.

The U.S. office is part of Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, but Ken McMullen says a Canadian version could be simpler and less costly.

As we head into the first week of August, the northern wildfires are showing no signs of slowing down in Saskatchewan.  

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) issued an update on the wildfires on Tuesday. 

Local resident Alyssa Hergott stepped up in a big way over the last week, volunteering her time and efforts to support firefighting and relief operations amid the ongoing wildfires in northern Saskatchewan. 

She returned on Sunday after helping for a week.