The wildfire situation in Saskatchewan is being described as extreme. It covers more than two thirds of the province, all the way from the far north to the South. Officials say it is the worst they have seen in years.
In an effort to get a handle on it a massive open fire ban has been imposed.
The ban goes from central Saskatchewan all the way to the North. It is being imposed for good reason. Not only are conditions ripe for more fires but virtually all of them have been caused by people.
181 out of 183 fires were caused by humans and when they start they move fast.
The executive director of wildfire management Steve Roberts says it doesn’t take long for a fire to burn out of control.
“These are extreme conditions, what we are saying is we had one of our fires started yesterday afternoon and is already 450 hectares in size and has not yet been contained so that is the kind of behavior we are going to see.” He says.
The fire ban can only be imposed on provincial land, including parks. Local municipalities and first nations set their own rules. The provincial fire commissioner, Duane Mckay says there has always been good cooperation with first nations and he expects that to continue.
“Yes, we work very closely with first nations, obviously that’s a major issue. They have lots of wild land within their jurisdictions and in the Northwest part near North Battleford we have been up there quite a bit helping first nations and they are now looking at imposing bans.” He says.
If you violate the fire ban you open yourself to prosecution and can be held liable for the cost of fighting the fire which can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars a day.
Right now none of the wildfires are threatening populated areas. A week ago, about 600 residents of the community of Black Lake were evacuated from their homes.
That fire is still burning but it is contained.
The provincial ban covers the following areas: Canwood, Fort a la Corne, Nisbet, Northern, Porcupine and Torch River provincial forests.
The ban also includes all provincial parks and recreation sites in Northern Saskatchewan including Candle Lake, Great Blue Heron, Lac La Ronge, Meadow Lake, Makwa Lake, Harrow Hills, Athabasca Sand Dunes, Clarnese-Steepbank Lakes, Clearwater River, Cumberland House and Wildcat Hills Provincial Parks and Bronson Forest and Chitek Lake Recreation sites.
UPDATE. A fire ban has also been put in place for the town of La Ronge, the village of Air Ronge and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. The fire chief says the ban will remain in place unti further notice.