There are 13 active wildfires across Saskatchewan as of Friday morning.
That’s according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, which says there have been 73 fires this year already, compared to a five-year average for this time of year sitting at 39.
The agency says four fires are contained at the moment, two are being assessed for their risk, one is requiring efforts to protect valuables in the area and six are not contained.
Steve Roberts, vice president of operations for the agency said that all fires in the province are caused by humans and will be investigated.
Large swaths of the province are considered at extreme or high risk according to the Fire Danger Map. An interactive map has also been released from the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System, mapping the country.
Environment Canada has released an air quality advisory Buffalo Narrows, Peter Pond Lake, La Loche and Clearwater River Provincial Park.
Fire bans are also in place across several rural municipalities across the province, which you can find a map of on the province’s website.
The dry conditions are expected to persist for the next 72 hours.
One of the fires, north of La Loche and south of Clearwater Dene Nation was declared a wildfire of note by the public safety agency on Thursday, noting heavy equipment, helicopter support and air tanker support was attending the flames.
“This fire is 266 hectares,” said Roberts during a media briefing Friday morning. “There has been no growth in the past 36 hours, no homes businesses, or infrastructure have been burnt or damaged by the fire. There have been some minor losses of a shed and an abandoned vehicle.”
A mandatory evacuation order was placed for the Clearwater River Dene Nation (CRDN) and the La Loche communities.
Evacuees from CRDN are being sent to Meadow Lake and Lloydminster while evacuees from La Loche are being sent to Regina where they will be staying at the Ramada Hotel once they are registered.
Molly Herman, from La Loche stepped off the first bus in Regina Friday.
“I’m exhausted, tired, overwhelmed,” she said.
She said she travelled with three infants.
“The fire was right outside my backyard,” Herman said. “The block, you could just see flames in the air a block away behind my house. While I was listening to the community radio, I was literally shedding tears while I was packing my babies.
She said her mind flashed back to 2015 when she also had to evacuate her home due to wildfires in the area.
“There was black smoke coming from the north side, east side to south sides. We were completely surrounded.”
Regina is expecting up to 3,000 evacuees as the fire rages on.
Global News confirmed that Saulteaux First Nation has also started evacuating. According to acting band manager Alexis Christensen 100 people have already left the area.
“The hot fire was getting dangerously close to homes, and we just figured we would rather get them to safety as opposed to waiting until it was right in the backyard,” said Sheldon Fox, communications coordinator for the Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs.
The Saulteaux community has also released a water advisory asking residents to not consume water from their taps, saying it is unsafe.
In order to keep enough water in the water treatment plant reservoir to fight the fire, the regular chemical treatment process that makes the water drinkable is suspended for the time being.
Moosomin First Nation band manager Arnold Blackstar briefly commented on the situation in his vicinity saying, “the fire is crazy right now,” but didn’t have time further questions.
The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency urges residents to contact their local municipality for wildfire status information, or reach out to the SPSA Protection Area offices, which the response areas and phone numbers can be found on the SPSA’s map.
Response Areas and Protection Bases Map pdf
– With files from Global News’ Jeanelle Mandes
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