‘Everybody’s got to be on board’: Communities urge preparedness after wildfire review

The report found limited evidence that wildfire and emergency response activities consistently aligned with established plans and procedures. It also identified shortcomings in evacuation coordination and said the absence of a clearly articulated provincial recovery strategy created uncertainty for communities transitioning from emergency response to rebuilding.

Denare Beach lost roughly 400 homes during the Wolf Fire, making it one of the most severely affected communities in the province.

The impact of the Wolf fire on Denare Beach in June 2025. (Image Credit: Linda Lowe/Facebook)

Thomson said some residents may feel the report validates concerns they raised during and after the disaster.

“I do think that it definitely does answer that kind of lingering question about did they respond adequately or didn’t they?” she said.

“I think that yes, there probably will be a pocket of people that are going to be, I’m not going to say completely satisfied, but satisfied to a degree that yes, this report speaks to that.”

At the same time, she said some residents will continue to feel governments have not been fully held accountable for what occurred.

The report’s recommendation for a more coordinated recovery strategy also resonates with Denare Beach, Thomson said.

“This community of Denare Beach, I realize that the report encompassed a larger area. It just wasn’t solely focused on Denare Beach,” she said. “However, that said, we were the most affected community.”

While acknowledging that wildfire behaviour can be impossible to predict, Thomson said several of the report’s recommendations, including improved wildfire modelling and risk mapping, could help communities avoid similar losses in the future.

“If they take the models that they’re proposing, like the wildfire remodelling and mapping, and if they take those and they apply them with some good local knowledge, I think that those are positive steps in the right direction,” she said.

In Wadin Bay, the first community in Saskatchewan to achieve FireSmart recognition, long-time volunteer Shaun Bergsveinson said the report highlights the importance of local preparedness as much as provincial planning.

Bergsveinson helped establish FireSmart practices in the community more than a decade ago and remained behind to help protect property during major wildfire threats in both 2015 and 2025.

“All levels, yeah,” he said, when asked about responsibility for wildfire preparedness. “SPSA, I mean, as much as they’re a part of this, it’s got to be, everybody’s got to be on board.”

He said residents in Wadin Bay purchased pumps, hoses and sprinklers because they believed there could come a day when outside resources would be stretched too thin to help.

“We felt back then that there’s going to be a time when they could be busy elsewhere. We got to have things set up ourselves.”

The province announced Wadin Bay will receive the first $40,000 grant under a new FireSmart program aimed at helping communities reduce wildfire risk. Bergsveinson welcomed the funding, saying it should help communities begin the long-term work of clearing fuel and improving preparedness.

“This $40,000 will be a starting point to get motivated and start clean up and be ready,” he said.

The Saskatchewan NDP said the 132-page report, ‘which had been delayed since February’, makes it clear that pre-existing systemic issues in the government’s wildfire response were intensified by the wildfire.

“One thing that this report is missing is an apology from Scott Moe and Tim McLeod to those who lost their homes and communities,” said Leader of the Opposition Carla Beck.

“It’s clear that the Sask. Party government failed to prepare for the 2025 wildfire season. But while this report was being released, Scott Moe and Tim McLeod once again failed to show up to answer for their failures and express even the slightest empathy for those who are still recovering.”

“Scott Moe, Tim McLeod and the entire Sask. Party government broke trust with Northern Saskatchewan during the wildfires, and have done nothing to regain that trust,” added Jordan McPhail, Shadow Minister for Northern Affairs and MLA for Cumberland.

“Scott Moe blocked a public inquiry, refused to pass The Saskatchewan Wildfire Strategy Act, and then hid from the people of the North who lost everything because of his incompetence. There is no accountability and no leadership.

Unlike some critics, Bergsveinson is somewhat reluctant to conclude the SPSA was unprepared, arguing the scale and unpredictability of the 2025 season created extraordinary challenges.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I truly, I don’t know how you can prepare for a summer like that.”

Still, he welcomed the province’s new FireSmart grant program and said helping communities reduce wildfire risk before disaster strikes is a step in the right direction.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

by paNOW Staff

‘Everybody’s got to be on board’: Communities urge preparedness after wildfire review

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