Cameco has made the decision to evacuate all non-essential personnel from the Cigar Lake uranium mine in northern Saskatchewan because of a wildfire burning in the vicinity. The uranium mining company says the situation is complicated by extremely warm, dry weather, resulting from the heat dome that has settled over western Canada in recent days.

Production at Cigar Lake has been temporarily suspended. Approximately 230 workers are being transported off site. Roughly 80 essential personnel will remain on site to maintain the facility in a safe state. Should the wildfire threat grow considerably at the site, the company says a plan is in place to ensure their safety.

Company officials say Cameco is working closely with provincial wildfire management personnel from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, who are on-site assessing the situation and says the decision to evacuate the operation was made in conjunction with these officials.

The latest wildfire report from the Government of Saskatchewan shows one fire involves actively protecting property, five fires are not contained, there are 18 active fires and 12 are receiving ongoing assessment.

(CJWW)