The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency unveiled its newest water bomber on May 2, 2023. (Lindsay Newman/980 CJME)

By Shane Clausing, CKOM News Staff

Saskatchewan continues to support wildfire battles in NWT, B.C.

Aug 21, 2023 | 1:34 PM

As wildfires rage on in parts of the Northwest Territories and B.C., Saskatchewan is continuing to lend a helping hand.

In a statement provided to 650 CKOM, the provincial government said a lot of Saskatchewan resources are already being used to battle fires in the Northwest Territories, and more help is on the way.

On Saturday, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) deployed two CV580A air tankers, a spotter aircraft and 10 support staff members to help fight the fires in the Northwest Territories. An SPSA weather forecaster will also be helping in the territory, working remotely from Saskatchewan.

Last week, the SPSA deployed a five-person incident management team, two agency representatives and 37 wildland firefighters to the Northwest Territories.

This week, the SPSA said it will send up to 40 more firefighters up north to assist. The groups are expected to be out of the province for two weeks, but can be called back to Saskatchewan should any local issues arise.

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Sixteen Saskatchewan firefighters are scheduled to return home from a deployment in the Yukon later this week.

No Saskatchewan firefighters have been deployed to B.C., but the province said it has sent firefighting equipment west to help support the efforts in that province.

“The SPSA is determining its capacity to send additional firefighting staff and equipment once the Agency reassesses availability,” the agency said in a statement.

As of 10 a.m. Monday, the SPSA said there are 12 active wildfires burning in Saskatchewan, “and there are no fires of note.”