Southern Sask. remains ‘fortunate’ this wildfire season, SPSA says

WATCH: Southern Saskatchewan has seen a mix of precipitation this spring, which has played a role in preventing any major wildfires from sparking.

With many wildfires burning in northern Saskatchewan, the story is vastly different in southern Saskatchewan.

The southern part of the province remains clear of wildfire risks so far, according to officials with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA).

“Southern Saskatchewan has been very fortunate this year. They got lots of snow, and then they followed that up with some wet snow and then followed that up with some rain events,” said Steve Roberts, the Vice President of Operations with the SPSA.

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Roberts said the southern portion of the province has the lowest hazard.

“The biggest hazard is in the north and more specifically the northeast quarter of the province,” he said.

The largest wildfire in the province right now is the Shoe fire, near the Lower Fishing Lakes in the Narrow Hills Provincial Park.

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“That fire is now containing all of the Shoe fire and the Camp fire. They have continued to grow until they have merged into one single fire,” Roberts explained.

The current size of that fire, according to the SPSA, is 216,000 hectares and is not contained.

This fire has already impacted two cabins, 23 campers, and four pieces of infrastructure.

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“A kitchen, a bunk house, equipment shack and a truck in our own compound that has been impacted by this fire. During the course of the fire, we actually were required to evacuate the entire response team that was managing these fires to move them out of the way of this fire activity,” added Roberts.

As of May 27, there have been 205 wildfires in the province, with 21 of those still currently active.

Last year at this time, the province saw 165 wildfires.