About 1,075 residents evacuated from wildfires in northern Saskatchewan are receiving assistance from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) in conjunction with the Meadow Lake Tribal Council.

There are 760 people in Lloydminster from Dillon, St. George’s Hill and Michel Village.  Another 220 residents from English River and Patuanak are staying in North Battleford, while 94 people from Buffalo River, Jans Bay and Ile-a-la Crosse have been re-located to Regina.

Bryan Chartrand is with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency. He is not optimistic that anyone will be able to return home in the near future.

As of late Thursday morning, there were 24 wildfires burning in northern Saskatchewan. Four were uncontained, seven were contained, twelve are being assessed and one is protecting property.

Good progress is being made on the Vermette fire southwest of Dillon and west of Buffalo Narrows. However, the Shaw fire southeast of Dillon continues to expand. The largest fire is in a remote area north of Pinehouse and is being monitored by air.  Five key fires have already burned 632,000 acres.

There are also five highways closed in the far north of the province. Marlo Pritchard is the president of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency.

Pritchard is also urging all residents to be fire aware during the Victoria Day long weekend.

The majority of the 168 wildfires in Saskatchewan this year have been human caused.