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Person-caused fires come with hefty price tag Department of Environment and Natural Resources spent nearly $1 million fighting person-caused fires in 2012/13
Candace Thomson
Northern News Services
Published Monday, August 12, 2013
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
There have been more than 200 forest fires in the NWT so far in the 2013 season and with dry, windy conditions all summer, firefighters have been busy.
Adding fuel to the flames is an increased number of person-caused fires last month reported by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR).
Last year, there were 25 person-caused fires which cost ENR nearly $1 million, according to department spokesperson Judy McLinton.
While $9,303,000 was spent on fire suppression in 2011/12, 2012/13 came with a price tag of double that: $18,332,000, more than four times what was initially budgeted. This year, ENR's main estimate for fire suppression comes in at $7,513,000.
"Just dealing with fires started by natural causes such as lightning keeps the department busy and costs enough," said McLinton. "Person-caused fires just add to that and as well, person-caused fires are often started in areas close to communities or values at risk, so it's not only our cost but the loss of cabins and property as well."
As of July, 10 person-caused fires have occurred, three of which were started during the week of July 22, and Dave Purchase, duty officer in logistics with ENR, said it's enough to cause a problem.
"With mother nature giving us two to three fire starts in 48 hours, we don't need the burden of person-caused ones because someone went out and had a campfire," he said. "We ask people to be mindful and remember that even though it may be cool in the evenings, we're still experiencing above-seasonal temperatures during the day."
The North Slave, South Slave, and Deh Cho regions still remain at high to extreme fire risk throughout the day and getting a few isolated showers doesn't correct the situation, Purchase said.
"We need probably five or six days of steady rain to really bring the numbers down," he said. "It's just been a really dry summer."
Campers should make sure their fires are completely out before leaving to make sure there are no new fire starts.
Purchase said the territory isn't out of its fire season yet and ENR expects the dry conditions to continue well into August, though he says the firefighters have it covered.
"We have the resources in place to deal with the many new starts we may see," he said.
The NWT offer a unique situation to firefighters as well, Purchase said. As the territory is so large, it's unlikely there will be serious fire conditions in all areas of the territory.
Firefighters can be brought in from areas that aren't seeing much action this year, such as Inuvik, to fight the areas such as the South Slave region where the fires are running rampant. Of the 200 fires in the NWT so far this year, 100 started in the South Slave.
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