A helicopter takes off from the La Ronge Airport before La Ronge was evacuated earlier this year. (LaRongeNOW Staff/Derek Cornet)

By Nick Nielsen

Sunday Wildfire update

Shoe Fire now 45% contained in latest wildfire update

Jun 22, 2025 | 2:59 PM

There are still five out of the 21 wildfires around the province that are still considered uncontained, but the latest update from the SPSA is showing more promising numbers. Rains sweeping through Saskatchewan in the last week have helped the situation up north.

Starting with the Shoe Fire east of Candle Lake, while it is still considered to be uncontained, crews have now been able to contain about 45 per cent of the fire. It currently sits at 554,484 hectares. As the fire is starting to become more and more controlled, crews are working to establish more helicopter pads for aircrafts.

Drone scans completed on Saturday revealed some hotspots hotspots on both the east and west sides of Highway 912, near the north edge of the Shoe Fire and the southwest corner of Wapawekka Lake.

The Pisew Fire near La Ronge has been showing quite a bit of heat despite the cooler temperatures there this week. It currently sits at 184,877 hectares in size. Crews are working to extinguish hot spots, in some places even using skimmers, and working to build new helipads.

One division of firefighters, Division Y, is monitoring the firelines around Egg Lake. On the east side of Egg Lake, the fireline extending to Big Stone Lake is being monitored, while the fireline on the west side of Egg Lake towards Sikachu Lake is seeing hotspots being cleaned up.

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Heavy equipment is ready and already reinforcing dozer lines on the south edge of the Pisew Fire in case the Shoe Fire makes a push towards the north.

The Wolf Fire west of Denare Beach still has some hot spots being extinguished. About 161,420 hectares have burned on the Saskatchewan side of the border.

The Denare Beach dump is being monitored for any temperature changes while also being soaked with sprinklers.

Infra-red scanning on the area is being suspended for a few days so that crews can instead spend their time extinguishing a number of hot spots already found.

Crews are also working to assess their inventory on the fireline.

The Ditch Fire, north of Weyakwin and burning 182,745 hectares, is still seeing crews trying to minimize the fire’s growth east of Molanosa. Crews are being deployed in and out of the area via helicopter.

The West Division is securing a fire line that extends from Montreal Lake to the Ramsay Bay Road. Half of that crew is being flown into position while the other half is using ground transportation. Helicopter bucket support is being provided as needed.

For the smaller fires in the province, the Jaysmith Fire, burning 165,328 hectares, is seeing crews continue to extinguish the fire heading west towards Copp Lake. Crews are also searching for future helicopter pad locations for future use.

Finally the newest of the fires, the Santo Fire which was first spotted on June 2 east of Pinehouse, sits at 9,700 hectares burned so far. Crews are camped at the north end of Cotter Lake, and they are working to establish a perimeter around both the northwest and southeast sides of the fire.