Wildfires 99 per cent extinguished says reeve, but dry and windy conditions mean threat is still there
Firefighters have managed to extinguish the majority of the wildfires burning in the RM of Garden River, but windy and dry conditions mean the threat still continues.
The RM’s State of Emergency expired at 5 p.m. on Monday. Garden River reeve Ryan Scragg said the wildfire situation significantly improved over the last few days.
“We look a lot better today than we did a week ago,” Scragg said in an interview with the Daily Herald.
“Things have improved. The fire department was able to get all the fires under control so everything’s contained now.”
Scragg said he estimated 99 per cent of the fire was extinguished, however there are still concerns. The RM needs rain badly, he said, and the few drops they received Monday afternoon won’t be anywhere close to enough.
“There’s still some lingering concerns there,” he said. “You never know when you have such wide-spread fire. They can reignite without warning sometimes, but so far everything is good.
“It’s just advising people to continue to be cautious and just be aware of how quickly things can develop,” he added. “All it takes is one small fire. With the wind conditions we’ve had it expands so quickly.”
Scragg gave full credit to the RM of Garden River fire department for keeping the area safe. He also thanked the volunteer fire departments in various nearby areas that answered the call to help.
“We’re very, very impressed, and very thankful for all the local communities that were able to render us some assistance with this,” he said. “Without them, it would have been a very dire situation.”
As of 6 p.m. on Monday there are 14 active wildfires burning in Saskatchewan. Six are listed as contained, Five are not contained, and three are undergoing assessment.
While firefighters have managed to keep things under control, fire bans remain in place across the Prince Albert area. The RMs of Garden River, Meath Park, Buckland, Prince Albert, Birch Hills, Kinistino, Shellbrook, and Paddockwood are all under a fire ban.
@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca
