40-foot flare visible near Wilkie during SaskEnergy maintenance work

Residents northeast of Wilkie will notice a towering flame in the sky this week as SaskEnergy carries out maintenance on a natural gas line in the area.  

The Crown utility is conducting controlled flaring at a block valve site in the RM of Buffalo No. 409, about 24 kilometres northeast of Wilkie and north of Highway 784. The work is taking place intermittently between noon and 4 p.m. through Friday.  

“Residents and drivers in the area may see a 40-foot flame being emitted from the flare stack temporarily attached to SaskEnergy’s infrastructure.” 

The flaring is required to safely remove natural gas from a section of pipeline being isolated for maintenance work. SaskEnergy said the controlled burn is an industry-standard practice and reduces the carbon footprint of released natural gas by about 85 per cent compared with venting.