As of early afternoon (Fri), there were 75 fires in Saskatchewan, eight aren’t contained. One of them is the Flanagan Fire northwest of Sandy Bay, which has caused the evacuation of the community of about 1,800 people. Earlier this week, the Prince Albert Grand Council and Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation suggested more should have been done earlier to fight this fire. It is over 17,400 hectares in size and to fight the fire, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency says Type 1 and 2 Crews are on hand along with helicopter support, heavy equipment, air tanker support and other resources. The fire is within 20 kilometres of Sandy Bay and is also near SaskPower’s Island Falls Hydroelectric Power Station.

Another fire of note is the Late Fire north of Turnor Lake and Birch Narrows Dene Nation. The SPSA is working with the Meadow Lake Tribal Council in supporting the communities and their residents in the area and the Agency says it has been monitoring and suppressing the fire, creating fire guards in addition to helicopter and air tanker support. It isn’t contained and is almost 15,800 hectares. There have been 480 wildfires so far this year and the five-year average is 331.