Sask. Opposition decries grounded firefighting planes, government blames inspections and maintenance

Chris Edwards · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 18, 2025 4:08 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Saskatchewan's Opposition NDP repeated criticisms of the provincial government's usage of h2o bombers connected Wednesday, with the state responding that planes were grounded owed to mandatory inspections and indispensable maintenance.

At a quality league Wednesday, the NDP focused connected 4 firefighting craft successful the province's fleet that person been idle during caller firefighting efforts.

"Frankly, it sounded unbelievable that successful the benignant of occurrence play that we've seen that it could beryllium imaginable that determination were planes wrong the provincial fleet that weren't seeing service" Saskatchewan NDP Leader Beck said connected Wednesday. "I tin lone ideate however incredibly frustrating that is to immoderate of the folks who mislaid their homes."

The Saskatchewan authorities has 4 Convair 580A land-based aerial tankers and six CL-215T Turbine powered h2o bombers successful its firefighting fleet, on with a big of smaller craft utilized to usher the tankers.

Four of those aircraft, 2 aerial tankers and 2 h2o bombers, person been idle during the province's firefighting efforts. The NDP besides antecedently brought attraction to an further marque caller h2o bomber, a Conair Dash 8-Q400AT airtanker, that the state took transportation of connected May 30, but has not utilized yet.

WATCH | Sask. blames attraction for firefighting planes near unused: 

In a connection connected Wednesday, the Saskatchewan authorities said the 2 h2o bombers were grounded owed to required structural inspections and the 2 aerial tankers were not utilized owed to a deficiency of disposable parts.

It besides said 2 different h2o bombers were unavailable for 5 days owed to mandatory inspections that came sooner than inspected owed to dense usage.

"This is simply a mean portion of operating immoderate aerial fleet," it said of the inspections and mechanical deficiencies. "Furthermore, determination is simply a national, captious shortage of qualified and experienced craft attraction engineers (AMEs). We person filled immoderate vacancies by partnering with schools to capable positions with apprentices to physique our capableness successful the future."

That shortage was wherefore the Dash 8-Q400AT aerial tanker was bought, the connection said. Responding earlier this week to disapproval of that plane's deficiency of usage, Saskatchewan Public Safety Minister Tim McLeod said its pilots hadn't yet been certified to alert it.

Trespassing allegations

On Wednesday, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) announced that its front-line unit had reported "a radical of individuals were recovered attempting to trespass astatine SPSA aerial operations basal successful La Ronge, disrupting the enactment of unit and expanding the hazard of endangering themselves and others."

"At immoderate clip — but particularly during a wildfire situation — it is unacceptable for anyone to interfere with wildfire and exigency unit operations," the SPSA said. 

Soon aft that, the Saskatchewan NDP released a connection that seemed to connect that announcement with the Opposition party. On Monday, Carla Beck shot a video outside of the La Ronge Airport calling attraction to the grounded planes, which the NDP released connected societal media the pursuing day.

On Wednesday, the NDP called the SPSA statement a "desperate, ridiculous, and a blatant effort to distract from the information that astir fractional of their aerial tankers were secretly grounded during the worst wildfires successful a decade."

Later Wednesday, during a daily update connected wildfires successful the province, SPSA's president and occurrence commissioner Marlo Pritchard clarified that the alleged trespassing was a abstracted incidental and did not impact the NDP video shoot. He said it progressive a radical of radical approaching and trying to locomotion done a gross to the airdrome during the precocious day connected Monday.

Pritchard besides said 1 of the grounded aerial tankers should beryllium operational by the extremity of June, but did not supply a timeline for the different 3 aircraft.

Moderate upwind helps firefighters: SPSA

The SPSA also said during the update that mean upwind had dampened the maturation of the fires. There were 17 wildfires progressive successful the state arsenic of the update , with four listed arsenic contained, 4 not contained, 7 undergoing assessment, and 2 with firefighters focusing on protecting invaluable buildings and infrastructure.

"None of the 4 important fires person grown successful immoderate signifier oregon signifier oregon person posed immoderate caller risks oregon threats," SPSA vice president of operations Steve Roberts said.

Five communities successful the state are inactive nether evacuation orders: Cumberland House, Creighton, Denare Beach, East Trout Lake and Whelan Bay.

Pritchard said astir 500 homes person been mislaid successful the fires. About fractional of those are classified arsenic superior residences, portion the remainder are cabins and mobile homes.

Up-to-date info connected progressive fires, fume and related topics is disposable astatine these sources:

• Interactive Sask. progressive occurrence map.
• Fire information map.
• Fire bans.
• Environment and Climate Change Canada upwind alerts.
• Sask. Highway Hotline.
• Smoke forecast.
• Air quality.
• Tracking wildfires crossed Canada.