With wildfire season going strong on the prairies, southeast residents already got a taste of smoke at the start of the week, and the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) is looking to keep fires down in the province.
Currently, there are 75 active wildfires in Saskatchewan. 12 of those are contained with 36 of those under assessment.
10 of the wildfires have direct property protection underway, and 17 of those are not yet contained.
That included a fire ban which was issued on Thursday, which included Crown lands, provincial parks, provincial recreation sites, and the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District.
The ban includes open fires, controlled burns, and fireworks as well as all land within 4.5 km of provincial forest boundaries.
SPSA Vice-President of Operations Steve Roberts talks about what exactly an open fire consists of.
"An open fire includes any source of ignition, which includes again prescribed fire open barrels in a park situation. Pretty much the only thing that is permitted is a gas implement like a gas stove. Gas fireplaces are the only things that are allowed. No open burning that will create sparks is permitted at this time, including fireworks."
In Saskatchewan, there are 307 wildfires reported so far with a five-year average of 2011. Roberts says those have primarily been started by lighting this year.
Currently, the SPSA is looking to control two raging wildfires in the province.
"We have the Davis fire, which is northeast of La Ronge near Missinipe. It's about 10 hectares in size, not yet contained. We have ground and air support on that fire. However, the fire does pose a risk to Highway 102. It was briefly closed this morning as we assessed the fire and did work."
"We also have reports of Sask telecommunication outages related to the fire as the line runs parallel to Highway 102. We also have another fire called the Wilson fire, east of Creighton, north of Denare Beach. The current size is estimated to be 100 hectares, this fire is not contained. We have air tanker support, helicopter support, and crew on the fire. We are also receiving support from our partners in Manitoba with air tankers on this fire."
Both of those fires started on Wednesday and have grown to pose significant risks by Thursday afternoon, underlining the existing risks.
Roberts also recommends people stay cautious when doing activities that may accidentally cause a fire, such as riding an ATV.
Most Saskatchewan crews are working in the province through this wildfire season.
"We brought back our crews that were outside except for 21 people currently in the Northwest Territories. They went there last week. We were looking at bringing them back early from the Northwest Territories to assist, but we also have those air tankers again, as I mentioned from Manitoba and we've put out a request through our national partners for a group of air tankers to support us in the upcoming days."
Roberts says that the fire ban will remain in effect until the situation and the weather changes.