REGINA - Here is the latest update from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency on the wildfire situation in Saskatchewan:
As of 11 a.m. today, they are reporting 15 active fires. Three are contained, seven not contained, four undergoing assessment and one listed as protecting values.
In total they have had 207 wildfires this year, well above the five year average of 127. In his update with reporters today, SPSA President Marlo Pritchard is reporting high daytime temperatures, warm evening temperatures and fires moving considerable distances, although he also is reporting stability over the last 24 hours.
The fires of note right now are as follows:
The SHOE Fire, located near Lower Fishing Lake and Narrow Hills Provincial Park, is the largest fire in the province. The size is 305,343 hectares and it is not contained. Pritchard said that as earlier reported, "we did lose multiple structures in the East Trout Lake area, although we are still assessing the actual numbers and it may take us a few days to actually get in there due to smoke conditions and dangerous road conditions."
There is the JAYSMITH Fire northeast of Missinippi, currently 33,642 hectares in size. This fire is on the highway north of La Ronge. Impacted communities are Southend, Brabant Lake and surrounding area.
The PISEW Fire is located west of La Ronge and listed at 61,205 hectares.
The WOLF Fire west of Denare Beach currently is not contained and threatening the McIlveena Mine site. Current size of the fire is 29,000 hectares.
The PELICAN2 fires is northeast of Pelican Narrows near the town site, and it is 9,154 hectares in size not contained.
The CLUB Fire north of Creighton is not yet contained and is 25,000 hectares, one quarter of which is on the Saskatchewan side. The town of Creighton has been evacuated.
The CANOE fire is still ongoing but the Candle Lake fire guard is holding.
The DITCH02 fire north of Weyakwin is 7,560 hectares.
Pritchard said all the fires "are currently being actioned by ground, air and heavy equipment assets to protect values and prevent damage as much as we can.
"We do want to note that we are seeing a wind change and that a lot of the smoke that has been sitting, you know, sitting for the last day or so will be moving south and I can tell you that in the next 24 to 48 hours, the communities in the south of the province will experience extreme smoke conditions and air quality probably, probably air quality alerts."
He acknowledged interprovincial partners who have sent aircraft from Quebec and Alaska, as well as wildland firefighters from Nova Scotia and some coming from New Brunswick. Pritchard also said there are some "in the queue for coming from BC as well as PEI."
As for active evacuations, "there are currently 16 evacuations with the province and we are asking the public to please contact your community leader for the next steps if your community is considering evacuation or just for your awareness."
"The SPSA has also posted information on our website for evacuees and for the most current information, please go to saskpublicsafety.ca for the most up-to-date evacuation information."
In terms of numbers of evacuees it was reported on Thursday to be over 8,000. As for individual communities, numbers provided as of about 10.30 a.m. this morning include 600 have been relocated or displaced from the McIlveena mine area, 380 from Hall Lake,g 32 from Brabant Lake,280 from Lower Fishing Lake, approximately 2000 individuals from Pelican Narrows, approximately 500 from Candle Lake, about 400 from the Creighton, Denair Beach and Jan Lake areas, and 70 from Weyakwin.
Pritchard said they are "once again reminding residents to stay away from the areas of active fires and allow the work of our first responders to do their jobs and to not fly drones in those areas as they do hamper our air assets and our air emissions. Motorists are invited to continue checking the Highway Hotline for the latest available road conditions and closures."
He adds that there have been structure losses in the wildfire.
"Currently, the SPSA can confirm as of this morning, we have 44 values that have been lost in this wildfire. That is the same number as reported yesterday and that is to do with the limited air quality and visibility so that we have not been able to get out and confirm some of those locations that we have mentioned about in these different fires."
Pritchard closed his remarks by acknowledging the support that is definitely at the community, local and regional level. He reinforced that "we're going to get through this but we're going to have to do it together."
"We're going to need to assist each other. I want to acknowledge the outpouring of support for SPSA staff dropping off food, donuts, drinks to our staff. It has been amazing to watch and gratefully appreciated. But we're going to all need to get through this together."
