There is an Air Quality Statement for all of Saskatchewan’s far south, including Regina and Swift Current. It continues further north on the west side of the province including Kindersley, Rosetown and through Saskatoon – Martensville. Heading east to Wakaw and west to North Battleford through to the Alberta border and then north of that to Meadow Lake and almost to the northern border. It’s because of wildfire smoke coming from the northwest. Poor air quality conditions are expected last at least into the weekend.

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency is reporting 31 active wildfires in the province. That’s a rise of four from Wednesday. Six are not contained. Fire crews are protecting infrastructure for seven of the fires, 13 are being monitored regularly to assess risk and five are contained. So far this year, there have been 298 fires, compared to the five-year average of 242.