Chief seeks volunteers on fire front lines
Even with military assisting the 600 fire line workers in northern Saskatchewan, there’s need for volunteers to pick up where the troops leave off.
“The military is here, but it’s not gonna be here forever. And these fires are gonna go for a long period of time,” said Duane McKay, commissioner of emergency management and fire safety with Government Relations.
A call for 250 volunteer firefighters and labourers went out on Wednesday morning – exactly two weeks after the first general evacuations this year from La Ronge due to wildfires. Although people are volunteering to help, once hired, the positions will be paid.
“We want to give an opportunity for people who live in those affected areas in northern Saskatchewan. If they have that training obviously we’ll streamline them into the wildfire management branch so that they can put them on the line,” McKay said.