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Busy fire season in the Deh Cho Fifty-six fires, more than average, burn in the regionRoxanna Thompson Northern News Services Published Thursday, Aug 23, 2012
As of Aug. 21, there have been 56 fires in the region, 15 more than the average over the past decade between 1998 and 2009. There have also been significantly more fires than in the past two years – seven in 2010 and 27 in 2011, said Loyal Letcher, the regional manager of forests for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. "It's been an extraordinary year," he said. Weather conditions this summer explain the increase. "We've had a wonderful, nice dry summer," said Letcher. There have been no cold lows or numerous rainy days in the region. The odd thunderstorm has passed through providing either pockets of precipitation or lightning with no rain which has started fires, he said. All but one of the forest fires in the region this year were caused by lightning. A fire near Shale Creek was started by an abandoned camp fire. The dry conditions in the Deh Cho led to a lot of what Letcher called "severe fire behaviour." Examples included two fires that jumped Highway 1 towards Wrigley near Shale Creek in June and July. The Department of Transportation had to temporarily close the highway due to the fires. "It's not a common thing," Letcher said about the fires crossing the highway. Dry weather also helped to fuel the largest fire of the season in the region. A fire reported on July 12 southeast of Trout Lake near the border with Alberta merged with a second fire to create a 38,212-hectare blaze. The fire isn't the largest in Deh Cho history, but it is exceptional, said Letcher. The fire is being monitored, not fought, because there are no structures at risk. This summer, no structures, such as cabins, were lost to fires. "We did come very close on a couple of occasions," said Letcher. He said thanks to the work of water tankers and fire crews, a number of cabins were saved. It has been a very busy summer for fire crews in the region, he said. Many crews were exported to other regions in the territory and some crews and personnel from outside of the Deh Cho were brought into the region to help on problem fires, said Letcher. The fire season normally ends in mid-August and fire crews, towers and fire bases are shut down for the year. This year, however, there is a continuing warming trend and most of the region is under a high fire-danger rating, said Letcher. Two fire crews have been extended for two weeks until Aug. 24. They could be kept on longer if necessary, he said. With limited resources on hand, a rising fire-danger rating and a long weekend approaching, Letcher is reminding residents to be particularly careful with fires. Hunting season is approaching and there is a good chance that a man-made fire could burn a cabin or threaten a community, he said.
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