Fire bans are on for a majority of the West Central region as we continue through the first week of June.
Hot weather and a lack of rain to end the month of May led to a flurry of fire ban designations for local RM's, towns, and villages. Between May 26-30 alone there were 27 different fire bans issued around west-central Saskatchewan, as part of over 30 currently active around the region.
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Six bans were applied on May 26 to the RM's of Milton, Hillsdale, Milton, Fertile Valley, Oakdale, and also inside the Village of Coleville. On May 27 four bans went into effect for the RM's of Winslow, Kindersley, Eagle Creek and Vanscoy. Come May 28 another three RM's joined the list in Prairiedale, Eye Hill, and up north at Manitou Lake. Thursday, May 27 was a busy one as eight RM's underwent a ban such as Rosemount (including Cando), Harris, Marriott, Mountain View, Antelope Park, Pleasant Valley, St. Andrews, and Deer Forks. Finally on Friday another six bans went into place in the RM's of Mariposa, King George, Snipe Lake, Clinworth, Wiseton, and finally the town of Tramping Lake.
Bans in the RM's of Progress, Heart's Hill, and Perdue were in place before the final week of May. Some of the above bans were already in place and may have just had an update.
Fire bans will be something to watch this week as the dry weather continues. Spotty showers are providing moisture around pockets of the region, but not nearly enough to eliminate the fire risk with things still ultimately dry.