The Opposition NDP says the government should hire all qualified firefighting applicants to help battle the fires.
Yesterday, the government put out a call to any volunteer firefighters who wanted to help battle the fires in the north and according to Chief Tammy Cook-Searson over 700 applied from LLRIB in under 24 hours.
NDP Environment Critic Cathy Sproule says the government’s commitment to hire 250 of the over 600 applicants is not enough.
“There is a need for more,” said Sproule. “If you have a few extra fire fighters it means others can get rest, so I think a few extra would be better than not enough.”
Sproule also says firefighting resources will be needed throughout the summer.
“It’s likely to be a hot, dry summer with continuing high levels of fire activity,” said the environment critic. “We need firefighting resources to protect the province through the rest of the fire season when the emergency help is gone.”
In response, the government says it is possible that more than 250 eligible volunteers could hit the front lines over the next couple weeks.
It says Wildfire Management is reviewing all the requests and says those confirmed as qualified may be promoted to the front lines very quickly.
The government adds it will ensure it has the necessary resources to address the threat to northern Saskatchewan.