Sask. heads into wildfire season ‘more prepared than ever’
Saskatchewan is heading into wildfire season with stronger preparation than last year, according to the provincial government.
At a technical briefing on Wednesday, Michael Wieger, the minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), said the focus this year is on readiness and coordination as crews prepare for another busy season.
“Wildfires are a shared challenge and preparedness is a collective effort,” Wieger said.
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More than 500 fires burned nearly three million hectares across Saskatchewan in 2025.
Dry, windy spring conditions helped several fires grow rapidly, forcing more than 50 communities to evacuate, according to SPSA vice-president Steve Roberts.
"These fires caused serious damage across Saskatchewan," he said.
Michael Wieger, minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), left, and SPSA vice president Steve Roberts spoke at a technical briefing on April 8, 2026. (Aishah Ashraf/CBC)
More than 50 municipal and volunteer fire departments from across Canada — and as far away as Mexico and Australia — provided support last year, he said.
This year, the agency began hiring seasonal staff earlier than usual and has expanded resources, including adding an eighth helicopter and renewing equipment contracts, Roberts said.
Fuel reduction work near high-risk communities has also continued throughout the winter.
“The agency is more prepared than ever,” he said.
Two water-scooping aircraft will be offline until mid-season for maintenance, but the overall impact is expected to be low, he added.
Early conditions suggest a less severe start than last year in northern and central Saskatchewan, where snowpack has improved, but the southwest remains dry, with little snow and worsening drought.
Roberts said he expects a normal spring, and the wildfire risk will come later in the summer, depending largely on weather factors including heat, wind and lightning.
"July is when we typically will start to see those longer heat trends," he said. "So that's really when the weather will drive fire behavior."
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About half of wildfires are caused by people and are completely preventable, Roberts said. Ways to reduce risk include obeying fire bans and using caution outdoors. People should be prepared to manage on their own for up to 72 hours during an emergency, he said.
"Everyone has a role to play in reducing risk and helping keep communities safe as we move through the upcoming wildfire season."
Resident calls for accountability
For people who lived through last year’s fires, the risks still feel immediate.
Kari Lentowicz, who lost her Denare Beach home in June, said returning to the community after the wildfire was devastating. She described a landscape still filled with charred trees and debris, with much of the forest canopy missing.
“What used to be lush and green was now gone,” she said.
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She remains anxious about the months ahead.
"It scares me to think that there's not a lot of moisture in the ground right now," she said.
While she praised local efforts to clear debris and build fire breaks, she said more needs to be done at the provincial level in both prevention and planning.
Kari Lentowicz lost her home in Denare Beach to a wildfire last June. (Kirk Fraser/ CBC)
She also questions whether lessons have been learned from last year, pointing to a delayed wildfire review report and uncertainty around emergency planning.
“They’re the ones that are responsible for keeping us safe,” Lentowicz said. “What are they doing this year to make sure that other communities like ours don’t go through what we went through?
"We need that accountability and I'll be surprised the day it happens."
Independent review of last season not complete
While the province emphasizes preparation for the coming months, questions remain about lessons learned from last year.
An independent review of the 2025 wildfire season, commissioned by the SPSA and conducted by consulting firm MNP, has not yet been released. The province had indicated the review would be done by February.
The report, which examines the experiences of residents and the effectiveness of wildfire response, was also omitted from the recent provincial budget discussions on wildfire funding.
In an emailed statement to CBC, the SPSA said MNP’s review is in its final stages, with a final version expected in late spring.
"Additional time was required to ensure the review was comprehensive, including the involvement of fire behaviour specialists, validation of data, and meaningful consultations with affected communities and key stakeholders," the statement read.
At the briefing, Wieger echoed it, saying the delay is necessary to ensure a 'fully comprehensive report.'
Simon Enoch, senior researcher for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, questioned the province’s efforts to prepare for the wildfire season. He said Saskatchewan has a history of under-investing in public safety measures, only to pay more later to respond to crises.
“I really hope that this public inquiry convinces the government that these sort of investments are better made before than after these kinds of climate events,” Enoch said.
The timing of the report’s release, coming after the budget, may have limited its influence on funding decisions, he said.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if the timing of this was designed so that things were already committed, and maybe next year we’ll consider it."
This article, written by Jeffery Tram, was originally published for CBC News.