The fire situation in Saskatchewan has not improved but not gotten worse according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency.
SPSA President Marlo Pritchard and Brian Chartrand executive director of land operations Brian Chartrand conducted the daily update on Saturday in Prince Albert.
Chartrand explained that this current status was due to a number of factors.
“Fortunately enough, we haven’t been picking up too many more human starts since the fire ban has taken place, so that’s helped with the current numbers situation. And fortunately we haven’t received any lightning to start additional ones either, so we’ve been status quo with the large fires that are going right now,” Chartrand said.
Chartrand said that due to the size of the fires natural barriers such as lakes have stopped growth of some large fires.
“So things are kind of staying where they’re at.”
On Saturday in Prince Albert there was rain and Chartrand hoped the weather system moved north.
“I hope that we do get rain on these things so that we start establishing line and go more on the offensive than the defensive them I’ve been. I’ve been glad that we’re not getting more starts and we can concentrate on the ones that we’re currently dealing with,” he added.
Pritchard agreed with Chartrand’s assessment.
“I think with the cooler temperatures over the last couple of days and the wind conditions changing a little bit have slowed the growth that we saw over a number of days,” Pritchard said.
“We are experiencing some light rain right now. I’m hoping that that will make a difference, or at least an impact,” he added.
According to Pritchard as of Saturday afternoon, there are 24 active fires, of these eight are contained, six not contained, 11 are under ongoing assessment and three are under the protected values classification, with 252 reported since the start of the season, well above the five-year average of 141.
The Shoe Fire continues to be the largest fire in Saskatchewan. Pritchard said it’s sitting at around 496,695 hectares, and has an impact on Highways 106, 120, 692,912,913 and 165.
There are evacuations of Lower Fishing Lake, Pipperal Lake, East Trout Lake, Little Bear Lake, White Swan and Whelan Bay. Pritchard noted that there is a voluntary evacuation in place in Candle Lake and the RM of Paddockwood. Intermittent closures of highways at the junction of Highways 913 and 106, juntion of 120 and 106, junction of 912 and 913, junction of 165 and 106, juntion of 120 and 913.
The Jaysmith Fire northeast of Missinipe is at 136,875 hectares, and it it has impacted Highway 102 North and Brabant Lake has been evacuated. Highway 102 has been closed intermittently and at the junction of 905 and intermittent power outages in the area.
Other infrastructure in the area includes cabins, lodges, and the Golden Mine Site.
The Ditch Fire north of Weyakwin is approximately 150,000 hectare, Weyakwin , Ramsey Bay, Timber Bay and Molanosa have been evacuated. Highway 102 has been intermittentley closed due to fire and smoke.
The Pisew Fire west of La Ronge is estimated at around 159,485 hectares. The fire has forced the evacuation of Besnard Lake, Hall Lake, Sucker River, Clam Lake, Wadin Bay, Lac La Ronge, Air Ronge, and La Ronge. According to the SPSA, the fire is impacting Highways 102 and 910 and the junction of Highway 913 to 165 is closed and Highway 102 La Ronge to Sucker River is closed.
The Wolf Fire that started west of Denare Beach is estimated at 133,832 hectares, and forced the evacuation of Jan Lake, Denare Beach and the McIlveena Mine Site and Highways 106 and 167.
The Pelican2 Fire near Pelican Narrows is listed as around 34,028 hectares. Pelican Narrows has been evacuated with high priority people evacuated. The fire reached Hiughwayt 135 near the bridge and traffic has been restricted in and out of Pelican Narrows. There are also still power outages in that area.
Pritchard said that there 36 communities that have been evacuated and between 10,000 and 15,000 people are being supported by the Red Cross, SPSA or communities and other organizations.
Pritchard said that there are still 400 value including cabins, residences, lodges and vehicles that have been destroyed or damaged with 267 confirmed.
“SPSA verification teams will be deployed as soon as we can, probably within the next 48 hours to start that challenging task and very sad task of verifying what properties were lost and rolling that up so they will be starting as conditions allow. As long as we can get to our staff in safety to those locations,” Pritchard said.
The Club Fire near Creighton and Flin Flon is approximately 17,327 hectares in Saskatchewan and 60,537 hectares in Manitoba.
The fire has caused the evacuation of Denare Beach and Creighton and power outages still remain.
Also on Saturday the province announced that Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Tim McLeod, in conjunction with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), has increased financial assistance for those registered with the SPSA, raising the amount provided to the head of household to $40 per day, up from $20, and the additional members of a household would increase to $20 per day, up from $10. Bringing the daily maximum of $200 per day.
The Government of Saskatchewan has provided $15 million to the Canadian Red Cross to help Saskatchewan residents who have been displaced from their homes, as wildfires continue to threaten communities across the province.
The Canadian Red Cross is working closely with Indigenous leadership and all levels of government to provide emergency accommodations, personal services and critical information to people who have been forced from their homes.
” I’ll just remind everyone for the evacuees, they must register with either SSA or the Canadian Red Cross. Again, don’t register with both of them. We have those numbers that that we just talked about in case of the evacuation, please contact your community leaders who will help you in those next steps to safely remove or get yourself out of those communities that are impacted,”
People who have been evacuated community and looking for information or support cn contact the Canadian Red Cross 1-800-863-6582 between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.
For evacuees who have registered The SPSA’s Emergency and Community Support (ECS) program, please call the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency 1-855-559-5502 to seek information or supports.
The state of emergency is in effect until June 29, 2025, and can be extended, if necessary, to help address this unprecedented start of the fire season.
Premier Scott Moe was believed to have been appearing on Saturday at the press conference but was not present. During media questions Pritchard said that he was not aware of the Premier’s presence being scheduled.
Later in the day the SPSA issued a statement.
“The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) issued an advisory this morning that incorrectly stated Premier Moe would be joining today’s media availability. This was stated in error – the Premier was not scheduled to attend the briefing. We apologize for this error.”
