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Saskatchewan providing wildfire help to B.C., Ontario

Saskatchewan has sent aircraft and more than 100 fire personnel to battle blazes outside its borders. Scott Moe / Twitter

Saskatchewan is providing some backup as British Columbia and Ontario continue to battle wildfires.

Sixty firefighters and 27 specialist personnel from Saskatchewan were assisting B.C. Thursday. Another 18 staff were assisting with blazes in Ontario.

Crews in Ontario will be called back Saturday, according to Steve Roberts, executive director of Saskatchewan’s wildfire management branch.

“If we have the capacity, they’ll be available and likely their destination will be British Columbia,” Roberts said.

Both Oregon and Montana have received two air tankers, one bird dog plane, and nine personnel.

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Provinces and states provide resources under mutual aid agreements, meaning they can offer surplus staff and aircraft to other jurisdictions.

“We can send these resources out and still retain over half of our crews and aircraft within this province,” Roberts said.

As of Thursday afternoon, there were seven active fires in Saskatchewan.

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