Three smaller communities have been evacuated—-Dillon, Saint George’s Hill, and Michel Village—while 95 people have been evacuated from Buffalo Narrows to Lloydminster due to very smoky conditions.

The Vermette Fire is located southwest of Dillon and the Shaw Fire is southeast of Dillon. The two fires are a similar size and cover a combined 51,000 hectares or about 125,000 acres.

Bryan Chartrand is the Executive Director of Land Operations with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency.

The Vermette and Shaw Fires have approximately 120 firefighters in the region, with a total of 65 pumps, 13 dozers, 12 pieces of heavy equipment and 10 helicopters available.

SaskPower reports 2,500 people are without power in Buffalo Narrows, Ile a la Cross, Dillon, and north up to La Loche. The fire burned underneath two kilometres of transmission that feeds several communities in the north. The power will be off until at least Tuesday or possibly later depending on conditions.

As for the provincial picture, there were 35 active wildfires reported on Monday mid-afternoon. Eight were not contained, 13 were contained, 13 were being assessed and there was one protecting property.

Wildfire numbers in Saskatchewan are more than twice the five-year average for this date at 161.