There are 13 forest fires in the province and in the first five days of May there have been over 190 grass fires. The Vice President of Operations with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency advises that there is no rain in the forecast, and it’s already windy and dry so he urges everyone to watch for local fire bans and be cautious because he says it’s much drier than what you might imagine.

Leadership in La Loche made the decision to evacuate, with the Loco fire between that community and the Clearwater River Dene Nation. Residents are being transported to Regina. The fire is about 266 hectares in size, but it hasn’t grown since Wednesday night. Local fire crews and the SPSA’s fire crews have been working on this wildfire. The SPSA has heavy equipment, helicopters and air tankers on site. Roberts notes that they have been able to significantly increase the amount of heavy equipment and the helicopter support at that fire recently, which has helped.

The Saulteaux Fire is in between the Saulteaux and Moosomin First Nations. Roberts says local crews are battling this fire and he doesn’t know about whether the Battlefords Agency Tribal Council has any plans for an evacuation order.

Of the 13 forest fires, as of noon today (Fri), four were contained, six not contained, two are under ongoing assessment and crews are protecting infrastructure at another fire.