There are over 150 active forest fires burning in Saskatchewan, with nearly every one in the northern half of the province.

While the fires themselves may be a fair distance away from Moose Jaw, they are having an impact on the many locals who own property or cabins in the north.

Glen Wozniak helped his older brother build a cabin on MacLean Lake - which is 90 minutes north of La Ronge - 42 years ago. They found out over the weekend that their cabin has been completely destroyed.

The sauna built on the edge of the lake

"It's been just over a week that there was a lightning storm that started fires in the area and we found out on Saturday that our cabin was burned down in them. We have a friend who stayed to protect his house on the lake and he said it's like the surface of the moon; it was torched so bad that everything was burnt right to the ground, there's nothing but ash. Usually, after a fire, there are still a few dead trees standing, but the fire was so intense it left nothing."

Wozniak says they had a close call with forest fires four years ago when one burnt within 20 feet of their cabin and 5 feet of their sauna. Fire crews were able to get in however and set up sprinklers to save the buildings.

They did have sprinklers in place this year to help fight the blaze, but the generator which ran them required to be filled up with fuel every few hours. Once the nearing fires became too intense, they had to abandon it.

Wozniak says they've been receiving updates from a neighbouring cabin, which is also owned by Moose Javians, who were forced to sleep on their boat while the flames threatened their house.

"It's a very tight community. The neighbour, who owns a plane, has been giving everyone updates from the air on the fire when it was safe. Seven cabins in total burnt down between MacLean and McLellan Lake, but two others on the lake were protected by sprinklers. Everyone got out safe though."

The dock is all that remains on the property

Wozniak says that he and his brother will need to make their way to the site of the cabin to assess the damage, but says they are already discussing plans to rebuild on the site. 

You can click here to view a map of active wildfires in the province.