Located 4 miles north of Estevan and 14 miles north of the US/Canadian border, it will be used for fires in the southern parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and in North Dakota and Montana.
The airport, officially known as Estevan Regional Aerodrome (CYEN), recently had its runways resurfaced; the longest one is 5,003 feet.
The plan is to bring in two or three 5,000-gallon tanks and a retardant mixing system with pumps to reload air tankers.
The facility will be evaluated over the next two years to determine if the ministry will make the base permanent. If they do, they will invest more money into infrastructure.
Saskatchewan recently joined the Great Plains Interstate Fire Compact, a bilateral agreement that facilitates the sharing of ground and air firefighting resources among six U.S. states and Saskatchewan. In September the Canadian province sent two aircraft, a CV-580A air tanker and a Turbo Commander Bird Dog, on site visits to Estevan and Pierre, South Dakota to check out the airports and meet the local fire personnel.