With cooler wet weather across much of Saskatchewan, firefighting crews and aircraft have been dispatched to other parts of the country and the U.S. to help local crews.
Ground crews and tankers from our province are now in Ontario, Quebec and the state of Oregon.
Dennis Trueman is the Provincial Wildfire Centre manager in Prince Albert, he says there are just over 20 ground personnel in Quebec.
About 50 were sent to Ontario, along with three aircraft.
“We have one CL-215 group, which is two tankers and one birddog aircraft and 10 personnel in Ontario, and we have one CV-580 group, which is two tankers, one birddog and 10 personnel in Oregon,” said Trueman.
Trueman says the fire conditions in eastern Canada have been improving somewhat.
“They are receiving a little bit of precipitation in Ontario, so they could be coming back at any time,” he said.
Trueman says the CL-215 group is expected to return from Ontario this weekend. The Convair 580-A air tankers from Saskatchewan arrived in Oregon last week.
The southern part of that state has been hit by dry conditions and a number of communities have been evacuated because of approaching fires.
(PHOTO: A CL-215. Photo courtesy of Saskatchewan Aviation Wildfire Operations.)