“If you’re that 20, to 25, to 30 year [age], you’re experiencing something that we’ve never really experienced before.” Laroque said the question of whether this year is abnormal is relative. “It’s in the more recent past, this is normal,” Laroque said. “This is our new normal.”

He said if he were to ask someone his grandfather’s age, or his father’s age, they would find it “very unusual” to have forest fires this early. “These are things that we traditionally saw more in June, July and later summer, when everything dried out and then the fires took off,” Laroque said.

Saskatchewan is making its way out of a relatively dry period. Few places had snow for long periods of time over winter. In the past, “snowpacks” would take time to fully melt and trickle into the ground as it warmed up. This would recharge the moisture of the soil. “What’s happening the last few years is that we go from a relatively cold period of time and one or two days later it’s plus 22 [C],” Laroque explained. The extreme back-and-forth causes the snow to melt rapidly while the ground stays frozen, not allowing the snow to fully sink into the soil. Laroque said most of the snow ends up evaporating, causing “instant drought,” similar to what the province experienced in spring 2024.