Wildfire Management says it has not been a typical season with only 46,000 hectares burned to date. (File photo/Government of Saskatchewan)

By Glenn Hicks

low wildfire season

Minimal forest burned so far in benign wildfire season

Aug 7, 2019 | 5:00 PM

The late spring and damp summer so far have made this a good wildfire season for the province and an official figures things continue to look favorable for the rest of the season.

There have been only 223 reported fires this year and just 21 of those were over 100 hectares in size. None posed any threats or caused damage, according to Wildfire Management.

“We’re looking at a much lower than typical fire season for us,” Executive Director Steve Roberts told paNOW. “We’ve had enough wet weather and frequent shower activity across the northern forest to keep our numbers far below the normal.”

Roberts said the amount of incidents was less than 60 per cent of the five-year average of 382 for this time of year, and of more importance was the relatively small amount of forest that burned.

“We’ve only had about 46,000 hectares burned in the entire province. In significant years we’ll have single fires that exceed that, so to have [that total] is very good for us as far as impact from wildfire this fiscal [year].” A total of $71.6 million is budgeted for managing wildfires this year, which is $10 million more than last year. Roberts told paNOW previously that total expenses are only tallied up at the end of a wildfire season.

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With the shorter August days and cooler nights and only seven active wildfires underway, Roberts said things were looking favourable. The hazard rating is low in the entire forested area, moderate-to-high in the middle parklands, and a little bit of extreme in the far South.

“We could still have peaks and incidents but broadly speaking, our numbers are looking sound and we’re looking pretty favorable for the rest of the season,” he said.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow