For the second time this summer, the province is implementing a fire ban in northern Saskatchewan.
In a release from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), it announced the fire ban would be effective at 8 a.m. on Thursday.
The ban was put in place “due to high fire activity and extreme fire risk.”
The ban includes the area north of the provincial forest boundary, up to the Churchill River, restricting open fires, controlled burns and fireworks within the boundary.
It does not include ATV/UTV restrictions at this time.
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“The extreme heat we have been experiencing means there is a need for everyone to take precautions and use extreme caution outdoors,” SPSA Vice-President of Operations Steve Roberts said.
“Please be cautious if you are using ATVs/UTVs and report a fire if you see one.”
The SPSA encourages municipalities, RMs and communities to continue to determine if a ban is needed in their area to prevent human-caused fires.
The resort subdivision of Lac La Plonge, La Plonge Reserve, the northern village of Beaval and Kinoosao still remain under an evacuation order.
Fires in Saskatchewan on July 9
As of 11 a.m. on Wednesday, 65 active fires were burning in Saskatchewan on July 9.
SPSA said in its daily report that 13 of those blazes were not contained, while 29 of the fires were under ongoing assessment and firefighters were protecting values in 16. Seven 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.
There are still active bans in 16 urban municipalities, 23 rural municipalities and one provincial park in the province, with the fire danger considered high to extreme for much of the province.
SPSA says there have been 362 fires in Saskatchewan so far in 2025. The five-year average to date for Saskatchewan wildfires is 211.