Wildland fires usually begin to appear in Saskatchewan in April and May as snow melts and landscapes dry out.
Wildland fires usually begin to appear in Saskatchewan in April and May as snow melts and landscapes dry out. In mid-May 2025, however, moderate drought and strong winds exacerbated fires in the central part of the province.
The OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9 captured this image (above) of smoke billowing from the Shoe fire on May 10, 2025. A wider view of the same image (below) also shows smoke from the Camp fire. The fires were burning in boreal forests in and around Narrow Hills Provincial Park. Infrared data from Landsat were overlaid on the image to help distinguish the heat signature of active fires.
On May 12, 2025, Saskatchewan’s public safety agency reported 12 active fires across the province, half of which were contained. The park and all highways into and out of it were closed due to the fires, and officials issued several air quality alerts for the region. Saskatchewan officials have tallied 146 fires to date in 2025, nearly twice the five-year average.
Read more at NASA Earth Observatory
Image: NASA Earth Observatory images by Wanmei Liang, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey.
