A senior official responsible for Saskatchewan’s wildfire response is set to retire amid growing calls for accountability from residents who lost homes during the province’s devastating 2025 wildfire season.
Steve Roberts, vice-president of operations with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), will leave his position on June 30 after reaching a mutual agreement with the agency, according to a statement from the SPSA. His departure comes shortly after an independent review concluded that the agency was not fully prepared to manage the unprecedented scale and complexity of the 2025 wildfires.
For residents affected by the disaster, Roberts’ retirement raises questions about accountability. Dustin Trumbley, who lost his home and belongings in the Denare Beach wildfire, said the timing of the announcement appears significant.
“It just seems too coincidental,” Trumbley said, noting that he had previously called for Roberts and SPSA President Marlo Pritchard to resign after the review exposed shortcomings in the agency’s response.
“The report is out. It shows the failings and there’s still no accountability,” he said. “I’m glad he’s gone. I think he needed to go.”
Trumbley continues to call for further action, including the resignation of Pritchard and consequences for former SPSA minister Tim McLeod, who was removed from the public safety portfolio during a cabinet shuffle in December 2025.
“That’s what my fight has always been about. It’s not about money. It’s about accountability,” Trumbley said.
Pritchard has publicly accepted responsibility for the shortcomings identified in the wildfire response and has pledged to improve the agency’s preparedness and operations moving forward.
The SPSA has announced plans to immediately begin the search for a new vice-president of operations. The incoming official will play a key role in implementing the review’s 11 recommendations aimed at strengthening Saskatchewan’s wildfire preparedness and response capabilities.
The 2025 wildfire season was the worst in Saskatchewan’s recorded history. More than 500 wildfires burned approximately 2.9 million hectares of land and forced over 10,000 residents to evacuate their homes.
According to the independent review, critical elements of the wildfire response were not effectively executed. The report cited inadequate pre-season planning, delayed recruitment efforts, and insufficient training as factors that weakened the agency’s ability to respond to the crisis.
In Denare Beach, where more than 200 homes were destroyed, residents continue to seek answers. Jennifer Hysert, whose home was among those lost, believes the scale of the devastation could have been reduced if early pleas for assistance had been addressed more effectively.
“At the end of the day, none of this matters if we don’t get a public inquiry,” Hysert said. “We need some accountability and retribution for abandonment.”
She argued that a public inquiry would provide transparency, identify failures, and help ensure similar mistakes are not repeated in future wildfire emergencies.
“You have to make sure this is something that doesn’t happen again,” Hysert said.
Saskatchewan residents affected by the historic wildfire season continue to push for greater accountability and reforms as the province works to improve its emergency response systems ahead of future wildfire threats.
