Sask. Public Safety Agency forecasts 'average' wildfire season after destructive 2024 season

Alexander Quon · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 23, 2025 2:12 PM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency says they are expecting an "average" wildfire play successful 2025 aft 1 of the much destructive seasons past year. 

Saskatchewan is forecast for a wetter and colder April earlier transitioning to much mean conditions successful May, according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, oregon SPSA.

"Once we get our summertime weather it'll truly find however overmuch precipitation and holding capableness we really person successful the soils," said Steve Roberts, the SPSA vice president of operations, during a quality league connected Wednesday. 

The play is expected to opposition with past year, erstwhile the state recorded the second-largest country burned successful the past 10 years

Whatever comes, the SPSA is acceptable to respond, according to Marlo Pritchard, the organization's president. 

"Our Type 1 wildfire crews and Type 2 crews person returned oregon are successful the process of being recalled ... Our aerial operations unit were returned for the play and the archetypal aerial tanker radical is already operational," Pritchard said. 

He added that the agency's exigency effect squad is acceptable to respond year-round. 

New dashboard

The SPSA besides revealed a caller dashboard for media and the public. 

According to the agency's ain data, determination person been 23 wildfires truthful acold this year. At this clip past twelvemonth determination had been 34 fires. In some cases, that's supra the five-year mean to date, which sits astatine 12 wildfires. 

The SPSA lone has 1 progressive exigency enactment progressive astatine this time. That's its effect to the ongoing cause overdose situation successful Saskatoon. 

The Saskatchewan Water Security Agency besides provided an update connected the province's spring runoff. 

Agency president Shawn Jaques said they are not expecting immoderate benignant of important flooding hazard successful the state this year. 

Saskatchewan experienced a drier autumn than mean and a little snowfall battalion passim the winter, truthful the province's runoff is projected to beryllium little than mean this year, Jacques said.

New h2o bomber to beryllium deployed this year

The SPSA confirmed that it volition person the archetypal of 4 replacement h2o bombers adjacent month. 

Four repurposed planes — two Dash 8-Q400AT models and 2 Dash 8-Q400MRE models — were purchased by the state to regenerate its aging aerial fleet, galore of which are expected to scope the extremity of their utile lifespan successful 2027.

The archetypal level to get volition beryllium 1 of the AT, oregon aerial tankers, models.  

"We'll go into grooming our unit and past go operational passim the summer, making definite that our crews are good versed successful utilizing this aircraft," said Roberts. 

Roberts confirmed the remaining 3 planes are expected to get by the extremity of 2027.

The state has spent $187 cardinal connected the project, portion the national authorities contributed $16 million.