Of the 350 fires that burned 364,000 hectares this year across NWT, 58 were recorded in the Fort Simpson and Fort Liard region with a loss of 74,380 hectares.
"We did better this year," said Loyal Letcher, regional forest fire manager. "We had some big ones but the weather helped us out a lot."
Not in June. More than 60 per cent of all the areas' forest fires occurred during that month, destroying 99.4 per cent of the total burned hectares for the season, which ending at the close of August.
A fire near Trout Lake in late July was the worst this season. But only one cabin was destroyed and there were no reported injuries of firefighters or others, Letcher said.
New aids to firefighters this year included the use of snowmobiles early in the season as well as older airtankers called CANSOs. The three CANSOs flew about 50 missions. A cost analysis on their use will be completed this fall.
"They worked pretty well," Letcher said. "It's certainly better than nothing."
The eight five-man crews in the region were helped by 94 emergency firefighters who put in a combined 11,000 hours of work.
"They were used from almost all of the communities," Letcher said.
Meanwhile, forest fire expenditures in the NWT have continued to drop -- from $27 million in 1994 to $14 million in 1995, and $11 million this year.
Some of the savings have been used to help protect communities under the Forest Fire Prevention Program. This year, about $750,000 in GNWT funding helped 11 communities construct or complete old fire guards.
Projects included burning scrap piles, brushing areas, and seeding cleared areas or planting with aspen. Several communities are also working on long-term plans to incorporate habitat and fire management objectives into community protection needs.
"We're sitting pretty good from last year but who knows what's in store for us next year?" Letcher said.