A provincewide fire ban in Saskatchewan is set to be lifted today after rain and cooler weather offered some reprieve to those battling large-scale wildfires.
Steve Roberts from the province’s public safety agency says the fire ban is being lifted as of 5 p.m. because officials have ruled there is enough precipitation and lower risk.
The ban had been revised last week to encompass a smaller area of the province north of the provincial forest boundary, up to the Churchill River.
Roberts says there have been so significant changes to Saskatchewan’s four major fires but that crews are working to contain them while the weather stays favourable.
Public Safety Minister Tim McLeod says people across 34 communities are in the process of returning home and he hopes to see that trend continue.
He says officials will work with communities to identify those who qualify for $500 emergency support payments provided by government.
Cool, wet weather has also allowed fire crews to get an upper hand in parts of northern Manitoba to clear the way for some of the 21,000 or more evacuees to start returning home.
David Monias, chief of Pimicikamak Cree Nation, reposted video of heavy rainfall on Facebook Monday, along with video of small planes leaving Winnipeg with evacuees who were forced out almost three weeks earlier.
“Our people are coming home,” Monias wrote, adding the community’s infrastructure is intact and water systems have been tested by health officials.
“Pimicikamak Cree Nation has begun the safe and gradual repatriation of our evacuees back to the community.”
The community and surrounding area, comprising of some 7,000 people, was among the largest evacuated during an especially dry, hot spring this year.
Elsewhere in northern Manitoba, people in Snow Lake, Sherridon and Herb Lake Landing were allowed to return on the weekend. Hudbay Minerals also restarted its Snow Lake mining operations.
Other residents, however, were asked to be patient.
The roughly 5,000 residents of Flin Flon were told a nearby fire might ramp up again after the area received only a small amount of rain. The 3,700 square-kilometre fire, north and east of the city, remained out of control.
“We’re working (on) doing some scans with the drones and aircraft to understand where some of the hottest areas are so that we can prioritize where we’re going to focus our efforts,” said Kristin Hayward from the provincial wildfire service.
People running critical businesses have begun to re-enter Flin Flon, but the general community will have to wait, partly because there are no health services and limited fire protection is available, municipal officials said.
There were 18 fires still burning across Manitoba, with seven of them listed as out of control
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