The ongoing wildfire situation in Northern Saskatchewan has seen some progress as rain has come down and fires are cooling off. As of Wednesday, the province's fire ban covering much of the northern part of the province has also been lifted.
Vice President of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) Steve Roberts says that what were once 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.
Roberts says the fires have been devastating over the past summer.
"In past years, large fires may have only threatened one or two communities. Those same fires have obviously threatened many, many communities, and we’ve seen one of the largest losses of homes and structures in a number of years. That’s at Denare Beach and East Trout Lake."
As the fires are beginning to wind down, the SPSA is also sending home some of the external resources they've received over the past months. This includes international help from Australia and vehicle support from the Canadian Armed Forces. However, the contingent of 300 firefighters from the CAF is being renewed.
The cool, wet weather has also relieved some pressures that crews were facing, which, as Roberts says, will give some of them the opportunity to rest.
“They’re tired. It’s been a long season. Some of them have to return to school here shortly. We’re also seeing that some of them are on their fourth, fifth, sixth assignment, so the change in fire behaviour is welcome.”
Work is still ongoing for the fires, as 79 wildfires are burning in Saskatchewan, 14 of which are contained.