Well when 13000 people are told to evacuate,its definitely time for the BOB to get some exercise. In actuality, the people in north-central Saskatchewan were either flown or driven to relief centres in cities in the southern part of the province. There was a video posted of some guy fleeing the firestorm in his vehicle which looked pretty scary. https://www.facebook.com/michelle.hopper.501/videos/10153116777054234/

Our province brought in equipment and resources from eastern Canada and eventually brought in the army and the reserves to provide additional support. La Ronge (central airdrome for the far north) basically had fire on its perimeter.

Some of the fires had really gotten out of control and encroached on a number of communities. Some remote cabins and houses were burnt out. The smoke from the area blew south as far as the Dakotas; particulates in the air created health warnings for asthma sufferers, the elderly and very young. The air quality index went from low to very high for many days (high is bad). Building operators turned off their air ventilation to combat the heavy smoke which at times looked like heavy fog.

The western 3 provinces are basically in a drought situation with very little rain this year. So when lightning or man-made sources lit the forests, there was little to stop it. It wasn't until the rain of the last couple of days that relief has been brought to the region.