‘We’re not finished yet. There’s no rain in sight,’ Premier Moe on wildfires

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe joins Evan on the show to give an update on the Saskatchewan Wildfire situation.

Another air tanker is coming in from Alberta here today to add to the over 20 tankers that are that are operating as we speak.

Listen to Scott Moe on Wildfires:

EVAN BRAY: Can you update us on what’s been unfolding with these wildfires in the last 12 hours?

SCOTT MOE: We’ve evacuated some 7000 plus people out of the tri community,  La Ronge, Air Ronge and Lac La Ronge, and lost some structures in that area as well. Some buildings, some homes, they’re not just buildings, their people’s homes in that area, in the northern end of La Ronge.

We also just to kind of indicate how ferocious these fires are and how unpredictable they are. They came down on La Ronge in a little bit different way, according to the Mayor I chatted with last night, than they even expected. And so with the winds gusting and the dry conditions and just the veracity of these fires, it is really an untenable time.

The fire got into the airport area as well and actually took the SPSS tanker base; our communications base at the airport burned last night. Now that’s not the hangar, and it’s none of the tankers. The tankers were obviously able to move out of the way, but it is where we do the communications for all of the tankers. And so we’re putting in place our backup plan. As we speak, we’re continuing to work with the federal government and liaising with the RCMP, if we may have, to bring in some military support to secure these communities.

So many people deserve thanks, whether they be in the SPSA or those volunteer fire departments that are battling flames as we speak in La Ronge and Denare Beach and other areas, or individuals and families across this province that are supporting those that are displaced. And we’re not finished yet. There’s no rain in sight, and we’re going to have to keep this up for a few more days.

Can you give a sense of how close we are to having to activate military support?

MOE: They’re meeting every day with not only the military representatives, but everyone that’s involved.

One meeting that’s happening this morning, for example, with a significant additional community and a couple communities evacuated yesterday, three or four communities evacuate yesterday is, can the RCMP still secure all of these communities to ensure they’re safe while they’re being evacuated and secure all of the other things that are going on.

There was a, there’s a convoy, literally from La Ronge to Prince Albert last night, of people that were leaving and they had to drive through that Weyakwin fire that ditch fire on the way up and that all needs people to make sure, and all I’m understanding is that it went as well as it can.

The RCMP and SPSA are talking this morning about whether it is time to bring in some military support to secure those communities and such.

Some people, at times, will say, “Well, you bring them in, and they’ll put the fires out.” The military, the federal government— they don’t have air tanker support.

They have support in certain areas and so those conversations are happening daily. And if they can help, we certainly would call that in.

We are bringing in, however, another air tanker is coming in from Alberta here today to add to the over 20 tankers that are that are operating as we speak.

And we have everything that we have and everything that our neighbours have. I make one comment, maybe, and shift us to the meeting that we had with the prime ministers here. Evan is, in years gone by, we’ve been fortunate enough to be able to lend some of our resources, tankers and firefighters out to places like the Northwest Territories in British Columbia.

This year, we require those supports, and we’re thankful for them from so many provinces and even three states. How we come together and collectively become more than a sum of our parts as provinces when we need to in times like this, is really a reminder of how we need to come together as Canadians.

And really turn our eye to the future as to what our nation is going to look like in three and five and 10 years?

The battle that we have going on in Saskatchewan and Manitoba and even in Alberta, to some degree, is just a great reminder of when we come together as Canadians we very much are, we’re we add up to more than the sum of our parts, and that’s holding true in the north.

But so many thank yous are, are in place. We evacuated the last patient — who came out of Stanley mission — at 2:30 a.m. this morning. Chief Tammy Cook-Searson had texted me by Stars and they were running out of oxygen. A heroic effort by so many, including those on the front lines in the community.

Can we talk about the meeting that you had with Prime Minister Carney yesterday? Just some general thoughts. Did it go well? Did it go as well as you had hoped?

MOE: It did go well and we’ve said that we stand firmly behind Prime Minister Carney’s comments and his aspirations to grow our economy, to lead the G7 nations, and to ensure that we’re making decisions that would allow Canada to become an energy superpower.

That means all forms of energy, and it means we need to make decisions with respect to policies to head us in that direction that are attracting investment into the mining, the energy, the oil and gas, the Ag value added, the whole works from Saskatchewan perspective, the manufacturing industries in in Ontario and Quebec, and I would say it was a positive meeting, as positive of meeting as I’ve had with a federal Prime Minister for some period of time.

And however, to this point, it’s all talk, and we’re going to need some action to back up and to deliver on some of the words that the Prime Minister said, and we’re going to support him in putting that action in place, and it’s our hope that he does sooner rather than later.

*The above interview has been shortened and edited for clarity.