Hot, dry weather in Saskatchewan has prompted officials to issue a province-wide open-fire ban, as firefighters struggle to extinguish a two-kilometre-wide blaze near Torch River, Sask.
Residents in the surrounding area were evacuated after a wildfire broke out in a forested region nearby on Friday afternoon. The province said the fire was likely man-made, and conditions are ripe for it to spread.
Saskatchewan Wildfire Management officials have banned all fires on Crown-owned land, including provincial parks, until conditions improve in the next four or five days.
The number of wildfires in the province jumped from 22 on Friday to 30 on Saturday.
Fire officials say the hot and dry weather is causing fires to spread quickly.
"Fire in these conditions can move very, very rapidly, and it moves in all directions. It can overwhelm even the most prepared individual," Provincial Fire Commissioner, Duane McKay, told CTV Saskatoon.
Wildfire Management spokesperson Steve Roberts said conditions are the worst he's seen in years. "We have not called a fire ban of this magnitude in the last five years," Roberts said.
Provincial fire crews are working with several municipal departments to fight the fire near Torch River. The flames have already burned through 250 hectares of land on a path heading to the northeast.
No property damage or injuries have been reported.
RCMP is warning members of the public to stay away from the area until the fire has been dealt with.
Highway 35, north of Love, Sask., has been closed as part of the firefighting effort.
