2 people charged with arson, accused of starting fires in Sask.

While wildfires continue to rage in the province, two Saskatchewan residents accused of deliberately setting separate fires have now been charged with arson.

At Friday's daily media briefing, Premier Scott Moe announced the charges and said that one of them was for starting one of the province's major wildfires.

But in a news release later in the afternoon, the RCMP detailed charges that were laid for two suspicious fires — one that Waskesiu RCMP responded to off Highway 696 on May 30 and one that Nipawin RCMP responded to in a ditch beside the Snowden turnoff on Highway 55 on June 3. Neither of those appear to be related to a major wildfire.

The fire that Moe initially referred to, the Ditch fire, near Weyakwin, was reported on May 26. It has grown to 95,000 hectares and appears to be moving very close to the massive Shoe fire — the largest blaze in the province at more than 470,000 hectares.

Those fires and others in northern Saskatchewan have forced thousands of residents from their homes. The province declared a state of emergency on May 29 due to the wildfire situation. As of Friday, there were 23 active fires and 248 total fires this year — far above the five-year average of 139.

"We understand there is public interest in seeing if any wildfires can be fully or partially attributed to criminal acts," Saskatchewan RCMP wrote in the media release. "Checking into the circumstances of each report of arson received recently will take some time."

The 18-year-old woman from Montreal Lake Cree Nation charged in the May 30 fire was scheduled to appear in court in that community on Thursday, while the 36-year-old man from Pelican Narrows charged in the June 3 fire was scheduled to appear in Prince Albert provincial court on Friday. 

Another suspicious fire reported to Prince Albert RCMP on Thursday is believed to be an attempted arson "at a provincial firefighting base north of Prince Albert," according to another RCMP news release sent Friday evening.

Officers determined someone poured an accelerant onto a pile of wood and started a fire, then fled on a bicycle. The fire was put out with no major damage.

Strong winds pushing a wildfire toward the industrial park and Eagle Point areas, just northeast of the town of La Ronge, triggered an alert for the region on Friday morning.

The community is already subject to an evacuation order, but any people that haven't left those particular areas were told to get to a safe place.

Tammy Cook-Searson, chief of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, said the situation is serious and unpredictable.

"The wind has shifted. It's coming in from the southwest right now and it's pushing the fire northeast," she said on Friday morning. 

Cook-Searson said the Pisew Fire, which began near Hall Lake, has since grown to threaten several surrounding communities. There have been significant structure losses in both Hall Lake, west of La Ronge, and Sucker River, north of La Ronge, due to the fire.