By Geoff Smith

Northwest still has fire threat, as conditions ease elsewhere

May 10, 2016 | 3:41 PM

Weather is helping ease the fire threat in much of Saskatchewan. But dry conditions are still a concern in the northwest.

Steve Roberts, executive director of wildfire management for the Ministry of Environment, said the fire ban that covers all of the northern administrative zone would be replaced with a new ban that covers a smaller area, in the northwest.

That new ban was issued the afternoon of Tuesday, May 10. The affected area is bounded by the southern edge of the forest, the Alberta boundary on the west, the Clearwater and Churchill Rivers on the north, and Highway 2 and the boundaries of Prince Albert National Park on the west. The national park is not included, but several provincial parks and recreation sites are, including Meadow Lake, Makwa Lake, Clearwater River, Steele Narrows, Bronson Forest, and Chitek Lake.

Roberts told a media briefing earlier in the day that only the western part of the northern forest remained under an extreme or high threat of fires. Rain that moved into Saskatchewan at the beginning of the week only went as far north as a line between Rosetown and Flin Flon, while a separate system affected parts of the far north. The rain contributed to the “greening up” of the affected areas that normally comes in spring, he said.

According to Natural Resources Canada, the fire threat remains high to extreme for the Battlefords and Meadow Lake areas, where no rain was expected.

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Emergency management commissioner Duane McKay said they were feeling a sense of “cautious relief.”

“When we’re going into a season that started significantly earlier than normal, and the extreme forest and grass fires we’ve seen over the last few days, I think we’re remaining vigilant,” McKay said. “We’re very happy that we’ve seen the shift in the weather, and the patterns and fire behaviour in northern Alberta have not been as predicted.”

But McKay warned it’s still the beginning of fire season and a full summer is ahead. He explained emergency coordinators are taking the opportunity to ensure the necessary support and communication is in place with local governments and provincial ministries.

Roberts said there was no change in the proximity of the fires that affected Fort McMurray to Saskatchewan. The flames were still more than 50 kilometres away from the boundary.

The weather pattern had also cleared away any smoke from Alberta affecting northern communities like La Loche. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health confirmed one pharmacy in La Loche had a shortage of a certain inhaler, but the product was available in another form. The inhalers were also still in stock at the town’s other pharmacy. Support was also available from the local hospital.

gsmith@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @smithco