By The Canadian Press

About 15,000 have fled Saskatchewan wildfires and more coming: Premier Moe

Jun 3, 2025 | 2:00 AM

PRINCE ALBERT — As Manitoba grapples with wildfires that have forced more than 17,000 people from their homes, the premier of Saskatchewan said Tuesday the situation is becoming just as dire in his province.

Scott Moe said upwards of 15,000 people have had to leave their communities and more are likely in the coming days.

“We didn’t have a very good day yesterday,” he told reporters in Prince Albert, Sask.

“We’re probably approaching in the neighbourhood of 15,000 people that have been evacuated across the province … and more families are leaving their homes as we speak.”

Moe said the biggest destruction has been in places like the northern village of Denare Beach, near the Manitoba boundary, where some family homes have been lost.

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There will likely be challenging days ahead due to a lack of rain in the forecast, the premier added.

Moe said he has spoken with his provincial counterparts, as well as Prime Minister Mark Carney, and was told that resources would be made available to battle the fires that continue to affect more than 30 communities.

Moe also said the province is working to determine whether military support is needed.

Marlo Pritchard from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency said about 400 structures have been lost. Many firefighters had to stand down in some areas Monday due to “extreme fire behaviour,” he said.

“It was so aggressive that they had to get out of the way for their own safety,” Pritchard said. “Today and tomorrow, we’re going to continue to see high winds and some very, very challenging conditions for our firefighters.”

Pritchard added that rain will come, but they “just don’t know when.”

An evacuation order was handed down Monday for the 7,000 people living in La Ronge, Air Ronge and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. About 8,000 Saskatchewan residents had already been displaced by fires in recent weeks.

Officials said an 830-square-kilometre fire breached the La Ronge airport, where the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency lost its air tanker and communications bases. The tankers were not damaged.

Evacuees were told to head south to Prince Albert, 240 kilometres due south, where phones rang off the hook Tuesday at the local Days Inn, said manager Samir Patel.

The hotel was filled with at least four evacuees in each room, sleeping on extra air mattresses and cots, he said.

“The staff are really stressed out, but we are all so excited to help the best we can,” he said.

On Tuesday morning, Terry Ross was still in La Ronge, bringing the few people left in town to the community centre so they could get a ride out. Despite the thick, smoky air and strong winds, he said the evacuation had been smooth.

“One car overheated on the highway,” he said. “But other than that, it’s been good.”

Ross said he planned to unite later with his children in Saskatoon.

Derek Cornet, a La Ronge resident and reporter for local news outlet larongeNOW, said it’s the second wildfire to force out La Ronge residents in 10 years.

“This one took a lot of people by surprise, because the winds are just so strong right now and the fire moved so quickly that a lot of people just weren’t expecting it to arrive as quickly as it did,” he said.

In neighbouring Manitoba, evacuees include 5,000 residents of Flin Flon near the Saskatchewan boundary, along with members from at least four First Nations. The military was working to evacuate members in remote areas.

Several First Nations leaders said Tuesday they lack adequate equipment like fire trucks, stable water supplies and transportation to combat encroaching blazes.

In the case of the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation in northeastern Manitoba, that means using garden hoses and two fire trucks.

“If they had the tools and they had equipment that they need … they would have been able to approach this in a different way and maybe wouldn’t have seen as many evacuations as we are seeing today,” said Kyra Wilson, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

A provincial spokesman said the province was reviewing the First Nation’s request and considering available options.

To the east in Pimicikamak Cree Nation, Chief David Monias said his community was on Day 13 of evacuating thousands of its members and dealing with some who refused to leave.

“We’re doing this on our own,” he said. “We should have been getting RCMP helping us to do all this stuff, but they’re not forcing anybody.”

Manitoba wildfire officials later said in an update that the evacuation of Mathias Colomb was completed but efforts continued to get everyone out of Pimicikamak First Nation and Cross Lake. There were 27 active fires in the province and, as of Monday, more than 14,000 people had registered with the Canadian Red Cross for support.

Federal Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski said Ottawa would match donations to the Red Cross to aid wildfire relief and disaster recovery efforts in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

In Alberta, there were 56 active wildfires, including 27 classified as out of control, and several evacuation orders were in effect. Officials said cooler conditions were aiding more than 1,000 firefighters in the province’s north.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2025.

— By Aaron Sousa in Edmonton, with files from Fakiha Baig in Edmonton, Brittany Hobson in Winnipeg and Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa

The Canadian Press