Over 500 homes were evacuated in the community of West Porters Lake due to a forest fire that burnt through roughly 50 hectares of land.

As of Saturday morning there are 14 fire departments, water supply tankers and staff with the department of lands and forestry on scene. 

The fire is believed to have started at approximately 4:30 p.m. AT this afternoon.

"To have this all cleaned up and gone, it's fantastic. Everybody will sleep better," said Douglas Krupp, a longtime Trader's Cove resident.

Radiation readings soared 16 times higher than normal around the fire, which broke out in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

Three weeks after the last Canadian deployment of firefighters to Australia, six more from Saskatchewan are heading to New South Wales.

Saskatchewan sent two firefighters to help fight fires spreading through eastern Australia.

The idea is to tie the fuel mitigation project into plans for a biofuel heating system in the community, similar to one that already exists in nearby Enderby.

The boreal forest, a band of green that stretches over six provinces and two territories, has long been a storehouse of carbon.

The cause of the fire is unknown.