Multiple contained, uncontained fires burning close to Sask. communities

By Logan Lehmann

Wildfire season is here in Saskatchewan and multiple fires have already been reported all over.

Currently, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) says there are nine fires burning in the province: Four contained, four uncontained, and one that’s forcing a community to flood to protect its property.

A look at the fires burning around the province as of May 3, 2023.

Several fires are burning too close for comfort in some central Saskatchewan communities, with one west of MacDowall and one just south of Batoche. Both fires reportedly started burning on Saturday.

The SPSA said the fire near MacDowall, being named Lilly, currently covers 525.9 hectares of land and is burning in the Nisbet Provincial Forest, about 12 kilometres west of the town and 33 kilometres southwest of Prince Albert. It has been confirmed that fire was caused by human activity.

The blaze near the community of Batoche and the Batoche National Historical Site, called OAIR1, covers 909 hectares of land and sits less than six kilometres away from the site, the SPSA said. The blaze is the largest uncontained fire in the province and it’s unknown how the fire started.

A look at where the fires Lilly and OAIR1 are burning in central Saskatchewan as of 2 p.m. on May 3.

To the northwest of Prince Albert, another fire named Rocky started burning on Tuesday and already covers 400 hectares.

Located about 26 kilometres north of Choiceland, the fire is currently uncontained but poses no immediate threat to surrounding communities. The fire was caused by human activity, the SPSA said.

The largest fire in the north, Vermette, covers 216 hectares and was also started on Saturday by human activity. The agency said the fire poses no immediate threat to any communities, currently burning 50 kilometres southwest of Buffalo Narrows.

Meanwhile in Cumberland House, the community is more focused on protecting its values rather than fighting the fire. Named Delta, the fire started Wednesday and covers five hectares of land less than five kilometres northwest of the community, the SPSA said.

According to the SPSA’s Wildfire Status website, the area is in the ‘Active Flooding’ category, meaning the fire is active and action is focused on protecting values in the area, such as cabins and infrastructure.

Here’s a list of all the contained fires in the province as well as the closest community to where they’re burning:

• 29 kilometres east of Loon Lake (0.9 hectares)
• 12 kilometres northeast of Pierceland (one hectare)
• Seven kilometres east of Île-à-la-Crosse (five hectares)
• 26 kilometres northeast of Buffalo Narrows (36.8 hectares)