Crews with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) helped assist last June with a human-caused wildfire near Camp Tamarack. (file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Fire response

Wildfire season moderate, but residents encouraged to use common sense as province reopens

Jul 21, 2020 | 2:00 PM

Favourable weather and a decrease in human-caused fires have helped keep the 2020 wildfire season fairly quiet, according to a spokesperson for Saskatchewan’s Public Safety Agency (SPSA).

There have been 88 fires this fires this year, which is far below the five-year average of 328. And last year at this time there were already more than 160.

Steve Roberts, the acting Vice President of Operations for the Public Safety Agency, explained the combination of increased rainfall and higher than average humidities, have resulted in better overnight recovery.

“So even if we should get fires late in the season, they tend to be much more manageable than if we have a very dry summer going into a fall,” he said.

Roberts explained fire behaviour becomes a bit more moderated after daily hours start to dwindle, but he is also not suggesting we are out of the woods just yet.

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“We think of 2017 where we had fire activity into October so we are still prepared to respond to fires as they occur, and we will take the season as it gets delivered,” he said.

Another big reason for the low number of fires this year, is fewer human-caused fires. Roberts said the COVID-19 restrictions on travel in the North kept a lot of people at home, who would otherwise be outside enjoying the provincial forests.

“We didn’t see those types of fires we would typically see with people camping, out on the lake, out on the beaches having shore lunches,” he said.

Just because there are fewer fires, does not mean the men and women who would normally be responding are not busy. The Public Service Agency is an all hazards agency and so in addition to fires, they also look after flood preparations and response. Provincial firefighters also helped assist at check stops and road blocks.

Roberts cautioned with the province now opening back up, people need to remember to be careful when camping, quadding, or doing any kind of burning activity in the forests.

“Now that we can get of our house, just be cautious out there,” he said.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell