Provincial Fire Ban Continues as Wildfire Numbers in Saskatchewan Continue to Grow 98cool.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from 98cool.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Fires threaten northern communities amid record-breaking heat wave
Province-wide fire ban extended until Monday amid increased risk to northern communities
Cloverdale fire - Submitted photo
The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) says three fires are within 20 kilometres of a northern community amid a record-breaking heat wave engulfing Western Canada.
A province-wide fire ban remains in effect at least until Monday when the SPSA will re-evaluate. The fire ban will continue to span the entire province for all Crown lands.
There should be no open burning and no fireworks on provincial Crown land which includes provincial parks. No burning permits will be issued until the fire ban is eventually lifted.
Provincial fire ban expected to remain in place until at least next week
The Saskatchewan government is not quite ready to lift a provincial fire ban just yet.
According to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, there were 30 active fires burning in the province on Thursday afternoon.
This includes three wildfires the province is battling in northern Saskatchewan.
These blazes are the Lock Fire burning near Dillon, the Stallard Fire near Stony Rapids and Pothole Fire in the vicinity of Stanley Mission.
The Stallard Fire is about 18 hectares in size, Pothole Fire 360 hectares and Lock Fire is by far the largest at roughly 5,190 hectares.
SASKATOON Wildfire crews around the province have remained busy the past few weeks as wildfires burn, three of which are of particular concern to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA). According to the SPSA, there are 30 active fires, an increase of 16 new fires since last week. 232 wildfires have been observed this year, 30 fires more than the five-year average. Of the 30 fires, the SPSA said six are not contained, three are contained, 15 have ongoing assessments, and six where the focus is on protecting values. Of the non-contained fires, three are of particular concern to the SPSA as the nearby towns and villages are within 20 kilometres of the fires.
By Carol Thomson
Jul 8, 2021 | 3:17 PM
Three northern communities are within 20 kilometres of wildfires in Saskatchewan, but the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency says there has been no evacuation order at this point. Vice-President of Operations, Steve Roberts, says crews are working on the fires and monitoring the situation, while keeping the communities up-to-date so decisions can be made. The Lock fire is near Dillon and Michel Village. The Stallard fire is close to Stony Rapids and Black Lake, while the Pothole fire is near Stanley Mission. Roberts doesn’t have any specifics but he notes that some people evacuated from Dillon for medical reasons because of the air quality, but that was done through the community and not the Agency.