Fires have been flaring up around the RM of Waverley since Labour Day, and thanks to hot, dry conditions and a lack of cellular service, it's been a crazy stretch of days.

Mark Jalbert - a councilor with the RM of Waverly in charge of the fire department, and a fire fighter - said they've been getting flare ups every day.

"It's chaotic. The first night we probably had 500 people. Everybody's cell phone went dead because it was roaming," said Jalbert. "I had a guy with me from another fire department. He couldn't find his fire department to get home at night. Of course it's a small community, that's not an issue, we got him back to Mankota. We can't even call 911 without having to drive out of the area."

Jalbert said they're working with SaskTel on setting up a portable unit, but the crown corporation is "very limited" on how many them have.

Tons of people have been coming from a number of directions to help fight fires. How many people, exactly? Even Jalbert doesn't know.

"The only way I would really know is to take an airplane up and count," he said. "We've got ranchers and farmers out there with water tanks and quads, but nobody really knows who's out there. It's such a big area. You see a puff of smoke and you go and there's 10 tanks we didn't know that were out there. Grasslands Park has been doing an outstanding job. They had their men and their gear out. They had to pull out [Wednesday night] because their resources are pretty stretched."

Jalbert said it hasn't been just those fighting fires that have been helpful. They've also had people bringing out food and water to the fields.

Hydration is needed while fighting fires, and the land could certainly use some water too, as more arid conditions are ahead in the forecast for Lafleche.