LIVE @ 1:30: Province to provide update on Sask. wildfires
Members of the provincial government and officials with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) are set to provide an update on the province's wildfire situation.
The press conference, scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. CST, will be streamed live at the top of this article.
Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Tim McLeod is set to speak, along with several other officials.
As of Monday morning, there are 67 wildfires burning in the province. Eight are considered contained, 17 are not contained, 26 are under ongoing assessment and protecting values is the priority for 16 fires.
Rainfall and cooler temperatures allowed the province to end its state of emergency on June 27.
At that time, evacuations had ended for all but two communities across the province. At the emergency's height, the wildfires forced around 15,000 residents to flee their homes.
Wildfire activity has peaked again in recent days.
The current total of 67 fires is more than double the total while the state of emergency was in effect.
The fires stretch across Saskatchewan's sparsely populated north — with flames reported as far north as Wollaston Lake and as far south as the Carrot River area.
On June 20, the province confirmed that over 1,900 values had been lost so far this fire season. The losses included 299 houses and 60 cabins.
-With files from Drew Postey and Caitlin Brezinski.
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