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A forest fire burns late into the evening northeast of Prince Albert, Sask., on May 17.
Kayle Neis/The Canadian Press
The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency says the number of wildfires raging in the province continues to increase as it enters its second week of battling various blazes.
Steve Roberts, vice-president of operations for the agency, said firefighters are doubling down on their efforts – particularly in northern Saskatchewan as the fire spills onto highways in the area.
He said there were 137 active wildfires in the province Friday, which was eight more than Thursday. A total of 382 wildfires have hit Saskatchewan so far this year – 170 more than the province’s five-year average.
“The intention is to curtail non-essential travel to the north,” Mr. Roberts said. “Many highways in the northern part of the province will be impacted directly by fire or by smoky conditions.”
He said the fires are driven by windy weather, and hot and dry temperatures.
The public agency said it is supporting 63 people who were evacuated from the city of North Battleford in Saskatchewan.
Mr. Roberts said there are nine communities and their surroundings affected by the fires, but rain in the forecast over the weekend could reduce some wildfires.
“At this point we do not believe those to be significant fire-ending events, but we are preparing to ramp up to get crews on the line, take advantage of any break in conditions.”
Saskatchewan has hired some structural firefighters since the wildfires began about eight days ago, Mr. Roberts said.
“These structural firefighters are basically patrolling communities to make sure no fire starts as we fight.”
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The agency has also put up 129 sprinklers in various communities.
In British Columbia, Premier John Horgan on Friday argued that there would be few advantages to declaring a provincial state of emergency in the battle against wildfires, as the province uses all of its available resources to fight them.
Opposition politicians and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, parts of which were under evacuation orders or alerts, have urged Mr. Horgan to declare an emergency.
“If there was a state of emergency called today, it would have no impact on resources because they are already in place,” Mr. Horgan said at a news conference. “We’re putting all hands on deck and the state of emergency is not required to do that.”
More than 300 wildfires were burning in B.C. on Friday, affecting about 1,500 properties where residents were ordered to leave earlier this week and evacuation alerts remained in effect for many more, including the entire communities of 100 Mile House, Ashcroft and Cache Creek.
Firefighters from Quebec and Mexico are en route to assist with local efforts, Mr. Horgan added.
The Ministry of Public Safety said in a statement that 20 firefighters from Quebec were set to arrive Friday, while 100 firefighters from Mexico will arrive in Abbotsford, B.C., on July 24.
The Quebec and Mexico crews will live and work in operational bubbles apart from local firefighters as a way to minimize COVID-19 risks.
Mr. Horgan said the normal contingent of Australian firefighters won’t be able to assist due to COVID-19 concerns, while fire crews from Western U.S. states are busy with fire behaviour similar to that in B.C.
“I’m confident based on briefings from the fire service … that we have the resources in place to do what we can,” he said.
Mr. Horgan said he would declare a state of emergency only when told to by firefighters and Emergency Management BC.
Brendan Ralfs of Emergency Management BC said during a media briefing on Thursday that a state of emergency would change little in the firefighting effort.
“During this current event, a provincial declaration of state of emergency has not been necessary to provide assistance to people, to access funding, or to co-ordinate or obtain additional resources,” he said, adding one would be called if it was required.
Environment Canada says heat warnings for parts of the central and southern Interior have ended but wildfire smoke means air quality advisories were posted for most of the eastern half of B.C., with conditions not expected to improve through the weekend.
Some parts of the Interior could see showers, but the weather office said any rain in the wildfire-ringed area of 100 Mile House over the early weekend could be accompanied by lightning.
About 69 per cent of the active fires listed by the BC Wildfire Service on Friday were believed to have been started by lightning.
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