The province is looking at bringing in outside resources to help battle a number of new fires in northern Saskatchewan.

As of Wednesday, there were 123 active fires in the province.

This is an increase of 17 from just the day before.

Thirty-two of these fires are classified as uncontained.

Hot and dry conditions throughout much of the north continue to pose problems for firefighters.

A number of air quality warning advisories have also been issued in various regions due to smoke concerns.

Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency vice-president of operations Steve Roberts said provincial firefighting resources are stretched to maximum capacity.

He said this has meant contacting other provinces and national organizations to see what firefighting resources they may have available.

“We are reaching out to local, provincial and some of our national partners to look at the potential of what may be available to add to our government fire crews and our community fire crews which are fully engaged at this time in the province,” he said.

The SPSA says there are currently 285 provincial firefighters battling blazes in the province.

These fires include ones burning near Dillon, Southend, Stony Rapids, Grandmother’s Bay and Stanley Mission.

A fire also caused the closure of Highway 102 north Wednesday afternoon.

Roberts said two additional fires could lead to further road closures.

“The Rabbit Fire poses a threat to Highway 2 north, south of La Ronge, and the Harding Fire poses a risk to Highway 106. Primarily this would be if the fire was to move in that direction or smoke was to move in that direction it could impede traffic. We would have to look at modifying traffic if we had to.”

The SPSA says a fire burning near the La Ronge Dam is not currently a threat to the structure.

However, the Water Security Agency is asking the public to stay away from the dam site for safety reasons.

The province also says some timely rains have lessened the threat of the fire burning near Stony Rapids.

Earlier in the week, residents were evacuated from the Dillon and Southend areas due to fire concerns.

For more information on the fires and road closures go to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency and Saskatchewan Highways Hotline websites.