FIRES BANNED ACROSS NORTH
Dry conditions create hazard
REGINA — The recent upswing in warm, dry weather has created extreme fire hazard conditions across Saskatchewan, prompting provincial wildfire management officials to raise the warning system to the highest level.
Northern Saskatchewan is even more susceptible to fires, resulting in the Ministry of Environment, in consultation with the Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport, invoking a fire ban over most of the northern half of the province, including Prince Albert National Park, provincial parks and recreation sites within forests.
Wildfire management executive director Steve Roberts was involved in making the decision Thursday at midnight.
“We have not called a fire ban of this magnitude for the last five years,” Roberts told reporters at the provincial emergency operations centre Friday.
Twenty - one fires are active across the province, three of which are in excess of 100 hectares — a 660- hectare fire near Black Lake, a blaze involving more than 450 hectares near Turtle Lake, and one near Darcy Lake that covers upwards of 6,000 hectares.
Only the one near Black Lake, which forced the evacuation of some residents last week, was under control on Friday.
Meanwhile, a 225-hectare wildfire in the RM of Torch River, northeast of Prince Albert, forced residents to evacuate on Friday. No injuries or property damage were reported. Highway 35 north of Love has been closed. The public is urged to avoid the area.
According to Roberts, this is an “above average” fire load in the province; 183 fires — all but two considered to be man-made — have popped up across the province so far this year. By this time in 2014, the province had recorded only 97 fires.
“There will be no open campfires and no open burning,” Roberts said. “So in other words you cannot burn yard debris ... briquettes and natural gas (are the) only things allowed.”
Pressurized stoves and self-contained heating devices are also permissible throughout the ban.
Bob Wilson, acting director of northern park operations, said park managers and supervisors received calls from people lobbying for a fire ban.
Wilson said he does not expect the ban will result in a decline in campers or business for northern provincial parks and recreation sites.
“I would suspect on the weekend our visitors that are planning to come will still come, and they’ll cook their meals over the briquettes as we’ve asked them,” he said.
Anyone caught defying the ban could be ticketed, or face hefty fines if they start a fire that consumes hectares of land.
Each of wildfire management’s 500-plus yard crew workers has been made available to fight existing and future fires, as have the provincial air fleet and seven medium-lift or heavy helicopters that are on contract throughout the fire season. Additional resources from outside jurisdictions can be called upon if necessary, officials said.
Provincial fire commissioner Duane McKay admitted he has not seen such an extreme fire risk in seven or eight years, so his concern over wildfires has increased.
“It’s odd that we would see this type of risk to fire all the way across the province, from the 60th parallel all the way down to the 49th parallel, and east to west,” he said.
Although Roberts declared the fire ban for most of northern Saskatchewan, municipalities can choose whether to declare their own bans.
“Human life and communities are our No. 1 priority,” Roberts said. “That’s where our focus will be.”
“Moderate temperatures and moderate precipitation is what we are looking for,” McKay added.