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In 24 hours, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) hasn’t reported any additional fires.
This includes man-made started fires or ones caused by the seasonal threat of lightning, which have started to occur in the north.
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Bryan Chartrand, executive director and land operations organization with the SPSA, said some fires have reached bodies of water or natural barriers, stopping their growth, among other factors, like rain.
“We can start establishing a line and go more on the offensive than the defensive as we have been protecting structures,” he said.
“I’m just glad that we’re not getting more starts and we can concentrate on the ones that we’re currently dealing with.”
Marlo Pritchard, SPSA President and Fire Commissioner, said cooler temperatures have also helped.
Active fires in the province on June 7, 2025.(Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency)
Premier Scott Moe not in attendance
In the advisory sent to media on Saturday morning, it said Premier Scott Moe would be in attendance to “provide remarks and will be available to answer questions.”
Upon arrival, only Chartrand and Pritchard were made available.
“We were advised that he was not coming,” Pritchard said.
“I’m not quite sure what the disconnect was there.”
Following the briefing, the SPSA said the advisory sent Saturday morning was incorrect.
“The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) issued an advisory this morning that incorrectly stated Premier Moe would be joining today’s media availability,” it said. “This was stated in error – the Premier was not scheduled to attend the briefing.”
The SPSA apologized for the error.
NDP call out “gaps” in evacuee financial aid programming
The Saskatchewan NDP noticed Moe’s absence and called out “flaws” in his Emergency and Community Support (ECS) program for wildfire evacuees.
SPSA said in a news release on June 7 that Minister of Public Safety Tim McLeod, in conjunction with SPSA, has raised the amount provided to the head of household to $40 per day, up from $20.
Funds provided for additional members of a household would increase to $20 per day, up from $10, bringing the daily maximum of $200 per day, the release said.
In a statement, the NDP said evacuees in provinces like Manitoba and Alberta have access to direct financial assistance via e-Transfer.
Saskatchewan’s program does not offer direct payments. The NDP call the supports available “restricting” and are tied directly to grocery stores, causing accessibility barriers for families with limited transportation.
The NDP are calling for more to be done to ensure evacuees have timely, direct and accessible financial aid when they need it.
Pritchard urges any evacuees with financial aid questions to call the SPSA line at 1-855-559-5502 and Red Cross evacuees to call 1-800-863-6582.
“We’re doing our utmost best to deal with those individuals who are having difficulty, whether it’s with cash cards or getting those supports, but we just need to know where they are and how we can help them,” he said.
He said the SPSA is exploring all available options.
When asked if the phone lines getting backed up was a concern, Pritchard said no.
“We have brought in and trained extra individuals to answer those calls,” he said.
“We will monitor that every day. If the call volume continues to increase, we’ll continue to get more people on that so we can meet that volume.”
Fire risk in the province on June 7, 2025. (Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency)
Donation announcement to me made next week
It’s no surprise that the community of Saskatchewan has stepped up to help evacuees of the wildfires.
But Pritchard said some of the donations are causing problems.
“We are asking people just to hold off on dropping off any donations, especially at the hotels,” he said. “It’s causing some kind of disruption and concerns.”
He said details will become available to people wishing to drop off donations and support to those evacuees early next week.
Fires in Saskatchewan on June 7
There were 23 active fires burning in Saskatchewan on June 7.
SPSA said in its daily report that seven of those blazes were not contained, while another 12 of the fires were under ongoing assessment and firefighters were protecting values in three. Only two fires were considered contained.
Contained means suppression action is taking place and the fire is not expected to grow in size, ongoing assessment means the fire is being monitored regularly to assess risk to values in the area and not contained means suppression action is taking place but the fire is expected to grow in size, according to SPSA. Protecting values means a fire is active and action is focused on protecting things like cabins and infrastructure.
As well, fire bans are active in 61 urban municipalities, 128 rural municipalities and 32 provincial parks in the province, with the fire danger considered high to extreme over much of the province.
SPSA says there have been 253 fires in Saskatchewan so far in 2025. The five-year average to date for Saskatchewan wildfires is 141.
Fire bans in the province on June 7, 2025. (Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency)
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