Fire bans issued across Saskatchewan amid early dry conditions [Video]

With snow barely off the ground, parts of Saskatchewan are already facing heightened wildfire danger.

Several rural municipalities, including Vanscoy, Corman Park, Rosthern, Eagle Creek and Meadow Lake, have issued fire bans as dry conditions settle in.

In the RM of Vanscoy, Reeve Leonard Junop says a recent grass fire nearly turned disastrous.

“It’s getting dry out and we had a big fire on Monday. It got out of control and came very close to burning a couple of houses down,” Junop said.

“So we would rather be a little bit proactive to try and stop the fires from happening because we don’t want to deal with loss of property or especially loss of life,” he added.

Further north in Meadow Lake, Fire Chief Joe Grela shares similar concerns.

“Looking at the long-range forecast, I think it’s going to be prolonged. It could be well into May,” Grela said. “It’s …