New air tankers from Quebec en route to Sask. to battle wildfires

New air tankers will join the fleet in Saskatchewan to help fight the wildfires burning throughout the province's north.

Marlo Pritchard, Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) president and fire commissioner, said the government of Quebec provided two CL415 amphibious tankers to complement the current aerial tanker support.

"These tankers are en route to Saskatchewan and we expect them to be integrated into our fleet this weekend," he said on Friday.

Pritchard said the tankers will be available for the next two weeks, but have the opportunity to extend their stay if required.

The support is provided through an existing mutual aid agreement between the two provinces.

"A total of four pilots and two engineers will accompany the aircraft and these tankers will initially be based out of La Ronge," he said, noting that they will redeploy people as needed.

The tankers will be coming into Saskatchewan from the Canadian Interagency Forest Centre, according to Peter Boniface, executive director of aviation operations at the SPSA.

He said while it is too early to know if more resources will be needed from the centre at some point, they are still keeping their eyes on what is available.

"Across Canada, there is not much available in the way of resources," he said. "A lot of the resources that are normally available are not available at the moment."

As of 9 a.m. on Friday, there were 29 active fires and 174 wildfires to date, which is almost double the five year average at this time of year, according to Pritchard.

POWER OUTAGE SUPPORT

On Friday, the province announced northern Saskatchewan residents who were impacted by a power outage earlier this week due to the wildfire activity from will get financial support.

The eligible communities are Buffalo Narrows, Garson Lake, Buffalo River Dene Nation, Turnor Lake, Birch Narrows First Nation, La Loche, Clearwater River Dene Nation, Descharme Lale. St. George’s Hill, Michael Village, Bear Creek and Black Point.

The SPSA will give the money to the communities as a grant, which leaders will distribute to residents.

The residents are eligible for up to $100 to cover the costs associated with food spoilage.

"These funds will provide relief to residents and communities who do not originally qualify for support through the Provincial Disaster Assistance Program (PDAP)," Christine Tell, minister of corrections, policing and public safety minister said in the release.