An aerial look at the damage left behind by the fire that threatened La Loche and Clearwater River Dene Nation. On Sunday, it was announced by both communities that the fire has been contained and that residents can now return home. (Facebook/Roy Sean Cheecham)

By CKOM News Staff

SPSA air operations manager says wildfire situation has improved

May 9, 2023 | 9:56 AM

Wildfires continue to burn parts of the province to the ground, but hope is on the horizon.

Peter Boniface, the executive director of aviation operations at the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), joined the Greg Morgan Morning Show from La Ronge Tuesday morning.

Boniface said the fire situation is much better this week than it was last week.

“The first season has picked up very early,” he added. “We’re still working hard to get them under control.”

Some of the fires were weather-related, but some of them could’ve been caused by people, Boniface said.

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“Somebody that’s being delinquent with a camping fire or just something silly like throwing a cigarette butt on the ground,” he added.

According to Boniface, his team provides airborne support to firefighters working on the ground.

“We have a fleet of 17 aircraft that we actually operate to control fires from the air,” he added.

Boniface said fighting all these fires has been really stressful for his team, adding they’ve been working 14- to 16-hour days.

“With the situation we’ve had this last week, our air crews and the support crews that help them load and fuel and keep the aircraft going … it’s long days,” he added.

Because of the seasonal nature of the work, Boniface said there hasn’t been a pilot shortage.

“Our bigger opportunity is actually our support personnel, so aircraft maintenance technicians … our ground support people, so what we would call people (who) load the airplanes, our air tech officer, primarily a firefighting expert (who) works with an aircraft in the air,” he added.

“Those are more of a struggle than the pilots at the moment for us.”

Since severe wildfires can cause a lot of disruption for people, like those who were forced out of their homes in La Loche and Clearwater River Dene Nation last week, Boniface stressed it’s important to be respectful of the forest.

“If (people aren’t) camping, (they should) make sure (their) fire’s extinguished,” he said.