As of now, there is no imminent threat to any Saskatchewan communities from Alberta’s wildfires.
Over the weekend, wind was moving the province’s two biggest fires toward the Saskatchewan border, but a cold front and wind shift has helped delay the two fires from moving too much.
Duane McKay, Commissioner of Emergency Management, says the situation in Saskatchewan remains stable.
“We still remain on high alert status to ensure that if those conditions change we can respond very rapidly,” says McKay. “But we have no threats to any property either urban, municipal or First Nations at this time.”
The Saskatchewan government has sent three observers to Alberta’s emergency operations centre to keep track of the fires and to work with communities in the northwest part of the province.
Authorities have also transported sprinkler units and other equipment to the border in an event the fire jumps into Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan’s wildfire manager, Steve Roberts, says the smaller of the fires is 15 km from the Saskatchewan-Alberta boundary, while the larger fire remains 30 km from the border.
He says this means these fires are still 50 km away from any Saskatchewan community.
“The good news for us is that fire behavior has dropped dramatically because we are under a cooler moisture trend,” says Roberts.
Air quality still remains a concern for many in the province, especially in northwest Saskatchewan, because of the smoke from the Alberta fires.
Roberts does expect the smoke situation to alleviate a bit over the next few days.
“There is a wind shift that will push smoke to the south, which should clear a lot of the smoke along the Saskatchewan border over the next 24 hours,” says Roberts.
Officials say many of the fires burning in western Canada are human-caused, but they do say the many fire bans across the province are helping.
The public is asked to continue to respect any municipal or provincial fire ban.
There are currently 17 wildfires burning across Saskatchewan — but according to officials, these fires are all contained.
On May 8, 2016, the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite captured this image of Ft. McMurray Fire in Alberta, Canada. Credits: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team