Arjun Pillai
Daily Herald
A rotating four-person crew from the Prince Albert Fire Department is stationed in Weyakwin this week, helping protect the northern Saskatchewan community as wildfires continue to burn nearby.
The deployment was made following a request from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), which is coordinating firefighting operations across the province.
“We’re providing support to protect structures in and around the Hamlet of Weyakwin,” said Deputy Fire Chief Alex Paul. “Our firefighters are doing values and structure protection, making sure buildings and infrastructure aren’t damaged by fire.”
While only four firefighters are deployed at a time, crew members are rotated in and out to maintain coverage in both Weyakwin and Prince Albert.
“We need to be careful about how many people we send out at a time,” Paul said. “But we’re committed to helping wherever possible.”
The team is not directly involved in wildfire suppression. Instead, their focus is on preventing the fire from reaching homes and other key areas. Prince Albert firefighters report to SPSA’s incident command and follow task assignments on a day-to-day basis.
“There’s no firm timeline,” Paul said. “The SPSA could tell us at any point, within 12 to 24 hours, that they no longer need us there.”
Paul emphasized that firefighter safety remains a priority.
“We have standard procedures in place. The officer in charge of the engine is responsible for making sure their team is not put in unnecessarily dangerous situations.”
This is not the first time the department has stepped up to assist with wildfires.
“Absolutely, we’ve done it many times,” Paul said, adding that more deployments are likely if the fire situation persists.
He also echoed SPSA’s message about fire prevention.
“Most of the wildfires this season have been human-caused, not necessarily deliberately, but from things like unextinguished campfires or ATV use,” he said. “There are fire bans and ATV restrictions in place right now. If people follow those, we shouldn’t see more fires started by accident.”
“We’re happy to support in any way we can. We just hope the situation gets under control and that we start seeing some rain in the forecast.”
