As of 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday there are 17 wildfires burning in the province and 9 are not contained. There have been 206 wildfires to date this year as compared to 165 last year. The Shoe fire remains the largest at more than 545-thousand acres in size.
In the Situational Incident Update the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency says dozer guards are being put in place north of Candle Lake and East Trout Lake has received substantial loss in the area. Little Bear Lake has not been impacted yet, but SPSA says the fire is close at approximately one kilometre from the west shore of the lake and plans are to protect Moose Lodge at Little Bear Lake.
As well Smeaton, Choiceland, and Love will experience lots of smoke with the south – southwest winds.
Brabent Lake is one of the communities which has been evacuated because of the Jaysmith fire northeast of Missinipe and the latest update indicates there is potential impact to the community as well as Highway 102 North.
The fire west of La Ronge has crossed Highway 165. It is more than 128-thousand acres in size. The Wolf fire west of Denare Beach has forced the evacuation of the McIlveena Mine Site and is now considered a threat to the mine site.
The Club fire north of Creighton which jumped the Saskatchewan-Manitoba boundary and now poses a significant threat to nearby Flin Flon, Manitoba has closed Highway 106 from Junction 135 to Creighton and the SPSA says the priority will be protecting the City of Flin Flon, Manitoba and Town of Creighton. Tentative plans for aerial ignition are ongoing.
The Pelican fire near Pelican Narrows forced evacuations of Pelican Narrows and Hall Lake and now firefighting is concentrated on protecting the substation/ power station north of Pelican Narrows.
The wildfire burning west of Christopher Lake has not led to evacuations as yet but there is a potential to impact surrounding communities and campgrounds
Canoe Lake First Nation self-evacuated as they were faced with the possibility their access road was going to be cut off by the nearby Canoe fire. That fire is now classified as contained.
Photo credit: Facebook “Caught the Fire Bug”
