It’s out.
According to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), a forest fire that has ravaged the west shore of Amisk Lake this summer is now considered out.
The ALIR fire, which was started by a lightning strike back on July 11, has had no new hotspots reported for the past 12 days according to imagery from the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) and NASA. The SPSA considered the fire to be “out” Sept. 20, but satellite imagery showed smoke from one or two areas near the fire’s eastern side. Recent warmer weather produced a possible reignition risk for some smaller, isolated hotspots, but with that warmer weather gone, fall having arrived and winter in the near future, reignition appears unlikely.
Since it began, the ALIR fire burned over 30,000 hectares of land, stretching from Muskeg Bay on Amisk Lake’s southwest shore all the way up to within four kilometres of Highway 106. The fire also grew across the Sturgeon Weir River and burned south of the river, with more growth reported to the northwest. All these areas of fire growth have not seen any fire activity in the last 12 days - some haven’t seen fire activity in nearly a month.
The other major fire burning in the Denare Beach fire area, the Hobb fire, is now considered “finalized” by the SPSA since Sept. 9, with no hotspots found with that fire in nearly a month.
Only three fires are still considered active by the SPSA - two in the Hudson Bay fire protection area, one that is contained and another considered “ongoing assessment”, with another fire in the Big River fire protection area also considered “ongoing assessment”. A total of 594 wildfires have been reported throughout the province this past summer.
Manitoba
In northern Manitoba, 36 fires are still burning but none of those blazes are making much progress.
The nearest fire to Flin Flon in Manitoba, the WE038 fire, is still listed as “under control” by Manitoba Conservation and Climate. Three larger fires burning around Snow Lake and Pukatawagan - the WE032, WE064 and WE049 fires - are each in different states of containment - the WE032 and WE064 fires are both listed as “being held” and the WE049 fire is listed as being “monitored” by Manitoba Conservation and Climate. No new hotspots have been reported with either of the fires in the last 12 days as of The Reminder’s press time.
“Action on four large fires in the western region, north of Flin Flon and Snow Lake, will continue through September to protect forestry and other values in the region,” reads the province’s last update on the fires.
Four hundred and forty-six fires have been reported throughout northern Manitoba this summer.
