SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Seven forest fires continue to burn in the North Slave Region, putting this fire season about on par with last year's, and hot, dry weather is expected by the weekend.

"That is almost something we'd expect to see in July or even the end of August," said Richard Olsen, manager of fire operations for forest management division of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources, of the drought conditions.

Olsen added that there's no real hope of upcoming precipitation putting the fires out. He said the water table across the territory is still very low.

"Two or three inches would be just enough toward setting us back toward normal," said Olsen.

Ten of the fires burning in the NWT are holdover fires - meaning they began last season - he said.

"Probably the biggest thing is the number of holdover fires and the degree of burning in the existing fires that we have," he said. "It's a strong indication of how dry the conditions are all the way from Fort Smith to Fort Simpson and up toward Yellowknife."

Seventy-five fires have been reported across the NWT this year - slightly more than the 63 that had been reported by this time last year, he said. A little less than 1,410 square-kilometres have burned so far, compared to last year's 1,650 square kilometres by this time, he said.

Additional air tankers and fire crews are being brought onto the fire team for the weekend, he said. According to Environment Canada, temperatures will reach a high of 28 C this weekend.

"Working directly on fire right now we likely have around 45 individuals, which is adequate for the response that we're dealing with right now."

A medium-sized aircraft is being brought in to add to the regular airborne fleet, of five intermediate aircraft, said Olsen. The department has a land-based Douglas DC4 tanker and four CL215 waterbombers, he said.

He said two extra CL215s are being brought in to increase their numbers.

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