Lightning sparks more wildfires, evacuations in Saskatchewan with active blazes now up to 65

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) says there has been a significant increase in the number of active wildfires in the past week, triggering more evacuations.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the SPSA says 65 active wildfires are burning in the province with 20 considered not contained. When a provincial state of emergency expired on Friday, there were 26 active wildfires reported by the SPSA.

“The storms that brought cooler weather also brought significant lightning with them and as that area dried out, we have started to [see] more wildfires primarily on the western half of the province,” SPSA vice president of operations Steve Roberts said on Wednesday afternoon.

Roberts said the most prominent of the new fires reported over the weekend is the “Muskeg” fire that is north of the La Plonge First Nation and the community of Beauval.

“Current size is listed at over 8,000 hectares, we have firefighting crews, helicopters, air taker support and heavy equipment on that fire. We are seeing the closures of Highways 918 and 165 due to the proximity of that fire,” Roberts said.

Evacuations have also been triggered for the Bear Creek Resort subdivision, Lac la Plonge subdivision and La Plonge First Nation, according to SPSA president and fire commissioner Marlo Pritchard.

“We also are aware that there are other communities in the area that are considering evacuations and are monitoring the situation,” Pritchard said.

“We are reminding residents that they can call 1-855-559-5502 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. for assistance,” he added.

According to Pritchard, 45 individuals from Bear Creek Resort subdivision evacuated, with 18 being supported by the SPSA, evacuees from Lac la Plonge subdivision came from cabins and are not being supported by the SPSA and around 140 people being supported by Meadow Lake Tribal Council evacuated from La Plonge First Nation.

Other significant wildfires continue to be the “Shoe” fire near Lower Fishing Lake that is currently 554,000 hectares and the “Pisew” fire west of La Ronge that is now listed at 185,000 hectares, according to Roberts.

Roberts said crews are continuing to do containment work on both blazes and both fires are not currently threatening communities.

The “Wolf” fire west of Denare Beach is currently 161,000 hectares but continues to be stable as of late, according to Roberts.

However, the “Santo” fire reported June 2 that Roberts says is about 20,000 hectares is in the proximity of Pinehouse, northwest of La Ronge.

“Currently crews are working on that fire, but it does have some values, Highway 914, Highway 910 and some SaskPower infrastructure, but we have support on that for crews,” Roberts said.

The “Ditch02” fire in the Weyakwin area also remains not contained, according to Roberts, and is 183,000 hectares. However, most of the fire activity is in the far north near Highway 165, Roberts said.

Pritchard said that people who may be facing evacuation should reach out to their community leaders to get informed about steps that may need to be taken.

Pritchard also said that a state of emergency will not be activated at this time but said the situation can and will change each day.