A now massive wildfire, roughly eight kilometres southeast of Cumberland House, has been contained.
Officials say the human-caused fire, which started Sunday, is approximately 211 hectares in size.
Henri Dagenais is with Wildfire Management. He says the blaze took three days to fully contain. He says the fire will be investigated to determine how it was caused.
“The fire is still active, so we don’t know the point of origin yet,” said Dagenais. “There’s going to be an investigation. Somebody will go there to investigate the fire and see how it started.”
The fire danger rating in that area is in the extreme range, with no weather relief in sight.
“Weather-wise there’s no relief for the dryness,” said Dagenais. “We don’t see any weather coming that could bring the humidity up. Right now, for the next four or five days, it should remain dry.”
Dagenais says the air quality is not being impacted in Cumberland House, as the winds are pushing the smoke away from the community.
Additionally, a 4.5 hectare fire at Buffalo Narrows, which started Saturday and was human-caused, has now been contained.
(PHOTO: Wildfire burning in La Ronge area in northern Saskatchewan, July 2015. Courtesy of Government of Saskatchewan.)