After a busy wildfire season last year, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) is expecting an average one this year.
The SPSA provided an update on what we could possibly expect this year.
Vice-President of Operations Steve Roberts noted compared to this time last year, the number of wildfires is down. At this point last year, there were 34 wildfires while this year there are 23 wildfires, with all of them contained.
Last year was the second largest in total area burned over the last five years and third largest over 10 years.
Roberts said contributing factors to that number were the higher-than-normal amount during the spring along with drier weather patterns into the fall.
He added the coming months will ultimately dictate the wildfire season.
“We expect to see a slight reprieve from last year for the spring conditions but once we get our summer weather, it will really determine how much precipitation and actual holding capacities we have in the soil.”
Roberts noted the amount of lightning this summer will determine the intensity of the wildfire season.
In preparation for the wildfire season, some the measure from the SPSA includes public communication such as cautionary messaging to avoid starting wildfires as well as preparedness plans to identify and mitigate risks in addition to determining what is needed regarding first responders training and equipment.
During the update, the Water Security Agency also said the expected runoff this year with the Churchill River basin and further north expected to see below normal runoff in addition to not accumulating a lot of snowpack in the north this winter