Leader-Post Staff
The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) has discontinued its weekly updates “due to the significant de-escalation of wildfires in the province.”
That’s according to a news release issued Thursday by the SPSA, which oversees Saskatchewan’s emergency management, including wildfires, on behalf of the provincial government.
The release indicated that the latest media update on Sept 18 would also be the last for the current wildfire season, “unless conditions change.”
According to the SPSA, there were just 18 wildfires still burning in the northern part of the province as of Friday morning — after a mid-summer peak of close to 100. Among those 18 active fires, two were categorized as contained, 14 were subject to ongoing assessments, one was listed as protecting values and another was referred to as reclamation.
The SPSA‘s data shows there have been 490 year-to-date wildfires this season. That number is below the previous year over the same period (594) but still higher than the five-year average (439).
Thursday’s news release added that the Trail Fire (west of Beauval) and the Muskeg Fire (north of La Plonge Reserve and Beauval) are now categorized as contained. The village of Beauval is located about 400 kilometres north of Saskatoon.
After a volatile wildfire season in which thousands of northern residents were evacuated from their communities, the SPSA announced in late August that all evacuation orders due to wildfires had been lifted in Saskatchewan.
The latest wildfire information can be found at saskpublicsafety.ca.
