About 200 cattle were moved from pastures in Saskatchewan’s Rural Municipality of Torch River this week under threat from a wildfire.
The fire began in the Torch River Provincial Forest about eight kilometres north of White Fox in the afternoon of May 22. By May 29 it was considered contained but had burned through more than 3,300 acres.
Paul Johnson, emergency planning officer for Saskatchewan Agriculture, said four producers moved their cattle on their own as a result of smoke and fire.
“We continue to stay in touch and offer assistance as required,” he said.
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No cropland is affected.
Seven people from the White Fox area were evacuated and the RM allowed them to return home Friday. Livestock were also being returned to the area.
The Torch fire is one of 17 active fires as of May 29. Eight are greater than 250 acres in size and all but two are contained.
Still not under control is the David fire, southwest of LaLoche, which is about 96,000 acres, and the Ridge fire, southwest of Candle Lake, at 7,600 acres. The David fire was human-caused, while the Ridge fire was started by a lightning strike.
Steve Roberts, executive director of Saskatchewan Environment’s wildfire management branch, said in the previous two weeks there had been 137 new fires and most of them were caused by human activity.
So far this year there have been 257 wildfires compared to 143 at this time last year.
Lower temperatures and some rain mid-week helped lower the fire risk throughout the province, but a ban on open fires remains in the northern half.
Provincial emergency management and fire safety commissioner Duane McKay said a significant number of rural municipalities in the south had implemented bans as well.
He said farmers who need to conduct controlled burns for some reason should first check with their municipalities to see if a ban is in place and then register with the province at 866-404-4911 so that emergency officials are aware and resources aren’t deployed unnecessarily.
McKay said the fire risk remains high because temperatures are expected to rise again over the weekend.
Contact karen.briere@producer.com
