REGINA - The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency has outlined their plans and preparations for the 2025 wildfire and spring runoff season.
Officials from the agency and the province provided their update to reporters Wednesday on what they expect for spring runoff conditions and weather conditions that could impact the wildfire season.
SPSA President Marlo Pritchard provided the spring risk outlook. He reported that a lightly above normal precipitation was recorded in the north and southwest corners of the province, but central Saskatchewan received less precipitation than normal, resulting in drier conditions.
“At this time, we are anticipating areas where abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions are expected. However, the overall picture for Saskatchewan indicates better conditions than we saw in 2024,” Pritchard said.
Pritchard said that climatology reports indicate the southern half of Saskatchewan will “experience an early start to the thunderstorm season, basically starting now, and the northern half of the province will experience a normal start to the season beginning mid to late May.”
The agency expects to see colder and wetter than average temperatures across some areas until the end of April. Near-average conditions are expected to redevelop in May. For the remainder of the spring they expect warmer-than-average temperatures across much of Canada.
As for summer, Pritchard said early forecasting shows a potential for the summer months to be hotter than normal.
In terms of wildfire preparedness, Pritchard said the SPSA has “prepared for an April start to the wildfire season.”
“Our Type 1 wildfire crews and Type 2 crews have returned, or are in the process of being recalled. The SPSA's Emergency Response Team and Emergency Services Officer provide an all-hazard response to incidents, and are ready to respond year-round. Our air operations staff have returned for the season, and the first air tanker group is already operational.”
He again urged people to “take extreme precautions during the spring and early summer months,” and said the SPSA will be putting out messaging on social media and radio to remind people of the risk associated to human-caused fires.
People are reminded that if they spot a wildfire or grass fire to call 911 immediately. If the need arises, the agency is fully prepared to provide full support, but “individuals and families should still take action now to prepare and support themselves for up to 72 hours. It is critical for everyone to have an emergency plan and complete and create an emergency kit.”
People are also encouraged to download the SaskAlert app for alerts for iPhone and Android devices.
Last year had been a busy year for wildfires in Saskatchewan, not so much in the area burned but in the number of wildfires they had to deal with, according to the agency
Steve Roberts, SPSA Vice President of Operations, noted that last year they already had 34 fires in the books.
“Right now we're only looking at 23 so far this season,” Roberts said. “So a much higher early spring response, and it lasted well into the fall because of the dry weather patterns.”
According to statistics posted on the SPSA site, there are three active grassfires/forest fires in the province at the moment. There is also one active emergency support and there have been seven of those so far in 2025, which is in line with the five-year average. While there are currently no active flooding incidents, there have been nine so far in 2025.
Roberts says that so far they have “anticipated, because of the over wintering conditions, a normal start" to wildfire season.
“So we did not have to recall our crews early. They are available now. We expect to see a slight reprieve from last year for the spring conditions. But once we get our summer weather, it'll really determine how much precipitation and holding capacity we actually have in the soils.”
He expects an average season based on the long-term forecast, but that will also be determined by how much lightning they get from those weather systems.
As for readiness, Roberts said “our full commitment and resources are ready. We're anticipating an average year, and so we've prepared for an average season."
"So all of our fire crews, our aircraft will be assigned, our equipment is in readiness. And that includes not only what's going to happen in Saskatchewan, but also our partners should they need assistance. As we're aware, Alberta's already had a significant wildland fire. So far, ours have been small and contained by our staff and local fire crews.”
Spring runoff update
Water Security Agency President Shawn Jaques also provided an update on spring runoff and reservoir levels. The initial indication is there is not a major concern about flooding happening.
Jaques said the snow melt is well underway across and most of the southern part of the province, and is nearing the end with normal to slightly above normal range for runoff.
“We don't expect any significant flooded risk in the province this year. However, there's always the risk or instances where there's some localized out-of-channel flows where runoff is a bit higher,” Jaques said.
He said that last fall the province saw warmer temperatures ahead of the snowfall, “which created some insulation and reduced the depth and extent of the frost in the soil. And so this reduced frost and drier than normal soil from last fall is allowing more of the water to enter the soil during the spring thaw.”
In the southwest, the runoff started earlier than normal, but “what we saw was a slow melt with moderate temperatures and precipitation through March was lower than normal. And so this resulted in runoff peaks lower than what we were forecasting.”
As for the southeast and east central Saskatchewan, they generally saw a quicker warmup, but despite above normal snowpack, no significant runoff was observed. The runoff in the Wascana Basin is higher than normal due to normal fall conditions and above normal snowpack, but most of the Churchill River Basin and further north is still expected to see a below normal runoff. Northern Sask. also expect to see no or below normal runoff.
The province says reservoirs are in good shape, sitting at about 80 cm higher than normal for this time of year. “Even with the drier conditions in the fall, there's no anticipated concerns with water supply for any communities at this time,” Jaques said.
