Additional measures are being taken in La Ronge to prevent further wildfire damage to the community. 

 Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency Vice President of Operations Steve Roberts says embers from the 141,905–hectare Pisew Fire are landing within the community, igniting numerous buildings such as the historical Robertson Trading Post.  

 “Volunteer fire departments and paid fire departments who have offered their services, we’ve transferred those folks to La Ronge, so there are a number of fire departments that supplied fire trucks and crews specifically to patrol the town and address anything that either would start or has started a structural fire.” 

 There are currently upwards of 10,000 registered evacuees fleeing south to stay in hotels, leisure centres, and arenas, but Roberts says there could be as many as 15,000 from 34 communities province-wide. Other fires of note include the 471,418-hectare Shoe fire, the 88,099-hectare Jaysmith fire, and the 71,130-hectare Wolf fire which has destroyed much of Denare Beach.  

He says the number and size of the fires in the province have made this one of the busiest, earliest, and resource intensive spring wildfires seasons he has ever seen.  

“We have assets from British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Alberta, and we also have assets and personnel from Alaska, Arizona, and Oregon. 

Despite receiving assistance and resources from nine other provinces and states, Roberts says Saskatchewan will not see reprieve from the current wildfire situation until a significant amount of rain hits the ground. He adds that although smoke makes it difficult to map the boundaries of these fires, he estimates that between 4 and 600,000 hectares of Saskatchewan land have burned.  

“In summary of what makes this a difficult season, numbers, sheer numbers. We’re almost double the normal amount of fires. That, combined with the fact that these fires are in and near populated areas.” 

As of 3:00 p.m. Wednesday, the number of wildfires has increased to 24, with nine not contained.