YORKTON — A crew of seven Yorkton firefighters, led by Fire Chief Trevor Morrisey, is currently assisting with firefighting efforts in La Ronge.
Wildfires continue to threaten communities across the province.
"What we're doing is structural and wild land," said Morrissey in an interview via phone call with SaskToday.ca, "we're helping wherever we can."
The Yorkton crew arrived the morning of June 3, prepared to support operations for five days before reassessing their involvement.
"Yesterday was a long day. There was four structure fires that we were on along with other departments," said Morrissey.
The team faces multiple challenges, including dense smoke that has significantly impacted air quality and visibility.
"The environment is very heavy smoke in town. So you're operating in severe adverse conditions when it comes to air quality," said Morrissey.
Morrisey described the constantly evolving nature of the crisis.
"There's so many things going on at once. It's very difficult to focus on any one thing because things are popping up all the time. Whether it be a fire jumping a road somewhere or a building catching fire," said Morrissey.
"It just makes it difficult to really focus on any one task like you normally would. That's one of the biggest challenges," added Morrissey.
Despite the obstacles, Morrissey commended La Ronge officials for their coordination efforts.
"The town of La Ronge is doing a wonderful job in trying to coordinate," said Morrisey.
Morrisey and his crew remain focused on managing their own team and executing tasks assigned to them. Their work has required collaboration with multiple agencies, especially when larger incidents arise.
"Last night when one of the lumber stores and another business went up we all came together. Then you have multiple agencies working together to deal with larger incidents," noted Morrissey.
Cross-agency cooperation presents logistical hurdles, particularly when it comes to equipment compatibility.
"It can sometimes be a struggle right from our tools and appliances—they don't always work with other departments," said Morrissey, noting that differences in hose fittings and other equipment necessitate careful coordination.
"You want to make sure that all your stuff gets back on your own truck but it's spread out over a pretty large area," said Morrissey.
With parts of the town still populated, the firefighters remain committed to ensuring residents receive aid when needed.
"There are still people in the town. Not everybody is evacuated. There is still that obligation to citizens to make sure that if something does happen that somebody is there to help," said Morrissey.
"Yorkton is happy to help. We know the strain that this puts under any one department and we're happy to help," added Morrissey.
"We know that—unfortunately—the favour would be returned by departments in our province if we needed the same thing and that's one of the reasons we come but the other reason is we're all in this together to help people, so that's what we're doing."
As of June 3, there were 22 active wildfires across Saskatchewan, eight of which remained uncontained. A total of 232 wildfires have burned in the province in 2025, up from 219 the previous day.
More than 9,000 residents have been forced to evacuate as fires advance, with that number expected to grow.
