The cooler weather towards the end of the weekend and a bit of rain helped to keep the two Saskatchewan wildfires of concern from growing much, but both the Briggs and Lock fires remain uncontained.

That from the Land Operations Manager of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, Dennis Trueman, who says the Briggs fire near Cameco’s Cigar Lake facility hasn’t had any hot spots at the perimeter near the mine in the past few days.

Eighty essential workers from Cameco remain at the mine site.

The area received 8.9 millimetres of rain over the past two days, while there was about 11 millimetres at the Lock fire, which is west of Buffalo Narrows.

Trueman says there has been a north wind at the Lock fire, keeping the blaze away from any nearby communities.

Both wildfires grew over the weekend, but only slightly.

The Briggs fire grew by about 900 hectares to just over 22,960 hectares and the Lock fire grew by about 300 hectares to just over 5,700.
Truman notes that as the temperatures heat up, the fire activity will increase.

Many municipalities have fire bans and the province has a burning ban on Crown lands, in provincial parks and in the Northern Saskatchewan Administrative District.

As of Monday morning, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency was reporting 24 active wildfires.

Five are considered contained, four are not contained, assessment continues on 12 of the fires and at three of the fires, property is being protected.

To date, there have been 218 wildfires this year and the five year average is 199.

(CJWW)