Even with a wet spring, a fire ban is still needed, says SPSA

Even though the province saw a large amount of rainfall this spring, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) says after three years of drought, it hasn’t made much of a difference in wildfire conditions.

Currently, 92 active fires are raging in our province, a majority of which are burning north of Prince Albert, yet the SPSA has issued a fire ban for the entirety of our province, which begs the question: why?

Well, according to Steve Roberts, the Vice President of Operations for the SPSA, when deciding if they should be issuing a ban, they look at the whole province rather than just a portion.

“Based on our large number of weather stations and our weather forecasting of current fire conditions,” said Roberts. “Precipitation in some cases is rapidly being absorbed by the soil and is not staying and keeping the grass conditions green and lush,” said Roberts.

For example, Roberts pointed to the community of Creighton, which is currently dealing with a wildfire that has put the town on an evacuation standby.

“That fire received 39 mm of rain; it was very dry, and it received that much rain in a single weather event—nothing before and nothing after—and that fire is still not yet contained,” said Roberts. “Unless the rain is widespread, temperatures are cooler, and the humidity starts coming up, you don’t actually see that effect on the fire hazard.”

According to Robers, crews are spread thin. Our province’s five-year average for wildfires this time of year is 242, but Saskatchewan currently has 355 active fires.

“At this time, having 92 active fires means our crews are very busy fighting these fires, and they’re basically from our western border to our eastern border. They are across the entire province from east to west,” said Roberts.

All hope isn’t lost if you plan on roasting some marshmallows this summer. There is a chance we’ll see an end to the ban once this week’s high-pressure system dissipates, moves out, and is replaced by the cooler weather system behind it.