La Loche residents forced to evacuate their homes and community due to the wildfires, started to return Friday after the Northern Village council terminated the declaration of local emergency Friday morning.

A news release from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) said the declaration brought the number of communities under an evacuation order in the province down to 12 from 13. As of 10:30 a.m. Friday, the SPSA reported 86 active wildfires in Saskatchewan. Of those, 15 are considered not contained, six are contained, 48 are ongoing assessments and 17 are listed as protecting values. To date this year, there have been 458 wildfires, compared with 450 at the same time last year and well above the five-year average of 356.