Smoke continues to hamper fight against 'extremely aggressive' Sask. wildfires

Heavy smoke continues to interfere with firefighting efforts in northern Saskatchewan.

Heavy smoke continues to interfere with firefighting efforts in northern Saskatchewan.

There were 24 active wildfires in the province's north as of Tuesday afternoon. Five of the fires were considered "uncontained" by the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA).

During a morning update to news media, SPSA operations vice president Steve Roberts said the smoke is also making it hard to monitor the blazes.

"These fires are extremely aggressive because of the spring conditions," Roberts said.

"[The smoke] has greatly curtailed some of our activity both to get into these fires and get crews on the ground but also to asess where we might have risks and threats."

The Shaw fire, which forced evacuations from Buffalo Narrows and other nearby communities due to smoke has grown to more than 100,700 hectares. The wildfire sat at around 25,000 hectares just over a week ago.

In addition to firefighters, helicopters and air tanker support have been deployed in the fight against the blaze, according to SPSA president Marlo Pritchard. He said some rain fell on the fire overnight.