According to the provincial government’s community risk assessment profiles the conditions were ripe for the province’s northern wildfire disaster.
Many of the communities directly threatened and forced to evacuate because of fires were rated as high risk, very high risk, and in the case of Grandmother’s Bay, extreme high risk.
The community of 300 scored extreme risk in areas that included potential fire behaviour, fire smart and preparedness and overall threat ranking.
Saskatchewan Environment spokesperson Daryl Jessop says the profiles are as current as they can be and were done in the last 10 years.
“There are a number of communities that were assessed as high risk as far as the vegetation around those communities. Long term, if there are thinning projects, forest vegetation projects to do risk reduction those kinds of things can certainly help”
Jessop says the communities are responsible for risk reduction within their legal boundaries while, “within the provincial forest, ground forest surrounding the communities would be the provincial government.”
He goes on to say the province works with communities to establish projects where funding is available to work on the ground forest around those communities.
To view the community risk assessments, click on the link below.
http://www.environment.gov.sk.ca/Default.aspx?DN=548bb226-240e-4bde-a71c-1461e72b78a6