Financial assistance for Sask. wildfire evacuees doubling, officials
say in latest update
Chris Edwards,
Aliyah Marko-Omene | CBC News | Posted: June 7, 2025 6:24 PM |
Last Updated: 12 hours ago
Cooler temperatures, change in wind help slow wildfire growth:
public safety agency
Image | CANADA-WILDFIRES/
Caption: Buses stand ready to evacuate essential personnel if
needed after the Pisew Fire prompted mandatory wildfire
evacuation orders in La Ronge, Sask., on June 4. On Saturday,
the province said it is increasing financial assistance for
evacuees. (Nayan Sthankiya/Reuters)
(BUTTON) Load Image
Open Image in New Tab
Financial assistance is being increased for wildfire evacuees
in Saskatchewan, the province said Saturday, as officials with
the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency also said there have been
no more human starts to the fires in northern Saskatchewan that
have already forced thousands from their homes.
"Many of the large fires have not grown, as they've reached
lakes, slowing their growth," said Bryan Chartrand, the
agency's executive director of land operations, during a
Saturday afternoon news conference.
"Things are kind of staying where they're at," he said, with 24
active fires now burning in the province.
"Now, with this reprieve, I hope that we do get, you know, rain
on these things, that we … go more on the offensive than the
defensive that we have been, protecting structures."
"I think with the cooler temperatures over the last couple of
days, and wind conditions changing a little bit have slowed the
growth that we saw over a number of days," added Marlo
Pritchard, the agency's president and fire commissioner.
Verification teams are expected to be deployed over the next
couple of days to start "that challenging task and very sad
task" of identifying what properties were lost due to the
wildfires, said Pritchard. Currently, the Saskatchewan Public
Safety Agency has reported approximately 400 values lost.
The fire bans across the province will remain in effect, even
with light showers and rain forecast in some areas, said
Pritchard.
"We will continue to monitor and assess risk, and it will be
evaluated over the coming weeks or week, to determine if that
should be lifted or lifted in areas," he said.
* Low on power or data? Use CBC Lite for the latest on
wildfires
There have been 251 wildfires in Saskatchewan so far this year,
well above the five-year average of 141 for this date.
So far, 36 communities have been forced to evacuate due to
wildfires. Evacuations are in effect for areas near Lower
Fishing Lake — where a fire has now grown to almost 500,000
hectares in size — as well as Missinipe, La Ronge, west of
Denare Beach, Pelican Narrows, Creighton and Weyakwin.
Embed | Sask
Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require
significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story
pages.
A voluntary evacuation notice has also been issued for the
Candle Lake area.
The province has declared a state of emergency, which remains
in effect until at least June 29.
Financial aid to evacuees
In a Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency news release earlier
Saturday, the province said it is raising the daily amount
provided to the head of each household to $40 per day, from
$20.
Additional members of a household will now get $20 per day, up
from $10, the agency said, to a new daily maximum for evacuees
of $200 per day.
But Linda Cowan said the financial assistance program has been
frustrating and confusing to access.
Cowan, who evacuated from Air Ronge on June 2, says she's spent
nearly $1,000 out of pocket on groceries and gas.
"My head is just exploding," said Cowan, whose contact
information was provided to CBC by the Saskatchewan NDP.
"I can't even wrap my mind around how disorganized and
dysfunctional this is compared to the 2015 evacuations," she
said.
"The minute we registered with the Red Cross in Prince Albert
[for the 2015 wildfires], they gave us a gas voucher for the
gas we were spending evacuating … and they gave us food
vouchers every five days."
* Candle Lake prepares for imminent fire threat; restaurant
closes to serve firefighters only
* 2 people charged with arson, accused of starting fires in
Sask.
After evacuating Air Ronge, Cowan registered with the public
safety agency. She spent several days with relatives in Osler,
about 30 kilometres north of Saskatoon, after she couldn't find
a hotel room. She's now in Regina.
Because only a single day's worth of vouchers are distributed
each day, and electronic transfers are not available, Cowan
said in order to take full advantage of food vouchers being
distributed by the safety agency, she would have had to drive
to the Safeway in Saskatoon to pick up a new one every day.
Embed | Wildfires in Canada
Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require
significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story
pages.
One of Cowan's daughters was able to find two hotel rooms in
Regina for her family. Those are being provided by the SPSA,
along with three meals a day for everyone.
"I feel that everybody else that isn't in a hotel is being
snuffed, and I don't understand it," Cowan said.
'Get something out the door': NDP
At a press conference in Saskatoon on Saturday, before the
government announced it would be increasing financial
assistance, Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck said that the
Saskatchewan Party government needed to follow the lead of
Alberta and Manitoba and offer more money to evacuees,
including e-transfers.
"This is not reinventing the wheel. Get something out the
door," Beck said. "You have some people saying staying in
hotels with limited access to food. You have some people
staying with friends and family who are out of pocket for
expenses like gas."
Beck was joined at the conference by Jordan McPhail, the
Saskatchewan NDP MLA for Cumberland, which includes La Ronge
and Air Ronge.
"When we look at the emergency financial aid, it is the way
that we can support all evacuees, no matter where they've been
displaced to," said McPhail, who noted that most of his
constituents are now living outside of his riding due to
evacuations.
"Some are living with family and friends in areas that are not
close to evacuation centres. And so they need to be able to get
the resources in the little communities that they're in."
Media Video | CBC News : Cooler temperatures, change in wind
help slow wildfire growth: Sask. Public Safety Agency
Caption: Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency officials held a
news conference in Prince Albert on Saturday, June 7, to give
an update on the wildfire situation in the province.
Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require
significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story
pages.
Beck also noted that some residents, particularly in the
eastern Saskatchewan community of Creighton, who are comparing
their services to what nearby Manitobans in Flin Flon are being
offered.
"Some of their frustrations about being able to pay, or
concerns about being able to afford gas or groceries are very
top of mind for them," she said. "And they talked to their
neighbours who are receiving direct financial support right now
from the government of Manitoba."
Currently, Manitoba is providing $34 per day to each evacuee
age 13 and up, and $27 for each child 12 and under. The money
is being delivered via e-transfer or prepaid cards.
* Some Manitoba wildfire evacuees say they're still waiting
for promised financial help
Alberta is offering bulk payments of $1,250 per adult and $500
per child for families who have been under mandatory evacuation
for more than seven days. That too is being delivered through
e-transfers.
The SPSA's Pritchard said the organization would consider
electronic payments on a case-by-case basis, but was still
committed to its current approach.
"We're doing our utmost best to deal with those individuals
that are having difficulty, whether it's with cash cards or
getting those supports, but we just need to know where they are
and how we can help them," he said, directing people to call
the agency's public assistance line.
An advisory sent by the public safety agency on Saturday
morning indicated Premier Scott Moe would also speak at the
conference, but he was not part of the livestreamed conference.
Up-to-date info on active fires, smoke and related topics is
available at these sources:
* Interactive Sask. active fire map.
* Fire danger map.
* Fire bans.
* Environment and Climate Change Canada weather alerts.
* Sask. Highway Hotline.
* Smoke forecast.
* Air quality.
* Tracking wildfires across Canada.
More Stories Like This
The related links below are generated automatically based on
the story you’ve just read.
Loading...
CBC Lite is a low-bandwidth website. To see what's new, check
out our release notes. For high quality images, media,
comments, and other additional features visit the full version
of this story.
We and select advertising partners use trackers to collect some
of your data in order to enhance your experience and to deliver
personalized content and advertising. If you are not
comfortable with the use of this information, please review
your device and browser privacy settings before continuing your
visit. Learn more about Online Tracking and Privacy Choices.
* Corrections and Clarifications
* Terms of Use
* Reuse & Permission
* Privacy
* Accessibility
* Contact a Newsroom
* Submit Feedback
* Lite Help Centre
* Jobs
* RSS
