The Fire Chief for the resort village of Candle Lake says they are looking for help from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency.

In a news conference Tuesday morning Chief Jim Arnold pointed to a bulldozer on site that wasn’t active, and they’d like to make it active as well as deploy other resources to create a firebreak. He is suggesting southeast of Highway 120, a 100 metre break from the highway to what has already been clear cut.

“All the way north to Minowukaw and then we wanna go in behind Minowukaw to where another fire break was created years ago. So, this is not just a one-time thing.  This could protect whole area of Candle Lake and Paddockwood from fire approaching from the southeast, or from the east.”

Chief Arnold says all they need is the green light from the SPSA and they have not been given the go-ahead.

There are 21 wildfires burning in the province and 10 are not contained. There have been 205 so far this year. At the same time last year there were 165. The five-year average is 124. The “Shoe” and “Camp” fires merged overnight, and the latest situational report shows what is now known as the “Shoe” fire at more than 534 thousand acres in size.

Communities which have been evacuated due to wildfires include Piprell Lake, East Trout Lake, Little Bear Lake, Brabant Lake, Whelan Bay. A pre-evacuation alert is in place the resort village of Candle Lake. A pre-evacuation alert has been lifted for the R.M. of Prince Albert.

A total fire ban has been implemented again for the RM of Corman Park and the RM of Rosthern. Virtually all RMs along or north of the provincial forest line have a complete fire ban including Heart’s Hill;, Progress, Bayne, Round Hill, Eldon, North Battleford.

All outdoor fires within the R.M. are prohibited until further notice or until such a time that the fire ban is lifted.