The Provincial government says they will be providing $20 million in new funding to help initial recovery efforts due to this year’s wildfires.
Justice Minister Tim McLeod announced the funding at a Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency update Monday afternoon.
McLeod says the funding will be used for the initial phase of recovery including the development of recovery plans, quick community cleanup, and the safe removal of debris.
The funding will also include environmental testing and the expansion of landfills near impacted communities.
The Justice Minister says the funding will be used for communities who sustained losses during the provincial emergency declaration or during a local state of emergency.
However, he does say the funding won’t be used to cover any clean-up already covered by insurance.
In the meantime, officials say Highway 918 is closed cutting off access to the northern community of Patuanak.
Officials say there is no threat to the community itself at this time, but they are monitoring the situation on a daily and hourly basis.
Officials also say they continue to see wildfire activities across the north, however, the current situation was described as “not as bad” as earlier this season.