Officials with Saskatchewan Environment say the establishment of a new base is part of the preparations being made for the upcoming wildfire season.
Large tanker aircraft in the province’s fleet will have a place for re-filling and servicing in the southeastern corner of the province.
Wildfire Management Branch Executive Director Steve Roberts says some City of Estevan changes made this possible.
“They resurfaced their entire runway, it is of sufficient length and they also upgraded their airport,” he said, adding “a lot of the airports don’t have enough asphalt, not thick enough to support our big aircraft but now that they’ve done that work we can actually park the aircraft there, refill them, and refuel them if we need to.”
Roberts says occasionally the large tanker aircraft are called in to help battle grass fires, and the Estevan base should allow for faster response times.
Tanker aircraft from Saskatchewan’s fleet could also be moved to the southern base to assist with fighting fires in the United States.
Roberts says the City of Estevan paid for the upgrades to its airport, so it was done without additional expense for the province.
This past week, storage containers and tanks were moved to the airport in preparation for the coming spring season.