Saskatchewan fire officials say they are working diligently to contain two large wildfires in the province.
Two fires around 1,500 hectares in size are burning. One is near Shellbrook and the other near the Waterhen First Nation. Both fires are listed as not yet contained.
The Rally fire, near Shellbrook, forced the evacuation of the Hamlet of Crutwell after the blaze broke through the eastern containment. Officials say they have worked to re-contain that side of the fire, but the small community was evacuated again on Tuesday afternoon.
Steve Roberts, executive director of wildfire management for the province, says a big issue with the Tuff fire near Waterhen fire has been smoke.
“There are also some concerns about access in and around the community,” said Roberts. “There are also a number of remote structures north of the fire and crews have put in measures to ensure the safety of these structures.”
Roberts also says while they are working to contain these fires, they are also working to ensure other fires don’t arise and become problematic.
“To reduce the threat of new fires we have enacted a provincial fire ban that affects all areas south of the Churchill River to the U.S. border,” he said.
Roberts did confirm that the two major wildfires were human caused, but couldn’t give an exact cause.
In the meantime, a spokesperson for government relations says the SaskAlert went off without concern during this emergency. This comes after some concerns of the “hit or miss” nature of the system during a recent national test. Officials are reminding the public they have to have the app downloaded in order for it to work.
There are currently 148 fires burning in the province, which is nearly double the fire year average for this time of year of 86.
(PHOTO: Forest fire south of Holbein. Photo courtesy of Randy Hoback, Twitter.)