Province sends request for more fire resources as precaution | Globalnews.ca

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) reached out for more resources in case the provincial wildfire situation worsens.

Multiple communities in the northeast area of the province have already been evacuated.

As of Wednesday evening, there are 132 active wildfires, 34 of which are not contained, and 48 people have evacuated to North Battleford.

The most up-to-date information on how many fires are currently active in the province can be found here.

“We are reaching out to both local, provincial, and some of our national partners to look at the potential of what resources may be available to our government fire crews and our community fire crews which are fully engaged at this time in the province,” said SPSA Vice President of Operations Steve Roberts.

All of the fires which were posing a threat to communities, such as Dillon, still remain as a cause for concern.

Many local fire fighters have been brought on as casual hires to help from northern communities which have been affected.

“The province has a total of 240 firefighting personnel that are trained to fight fires. We also have a told of 85 person crews located across the north on both First Nation and non-First Nation communities,” said Roberts.

The decision to evacuate is made locally for each community.

As of Wednesday morning, SPSA does not assume any more locations will evacuate, however, they are not certain considering how quickly fire situations can change.

The agency added, they are not looking to bring in extra hands yet, they have the situation under control, and the request for help is just a preliminary measure.