'No green left at all'
Columnist talks to Yellowknifer of her experience crossing through area destroyed by blaze; crews from around the country continue to battle fires as highway blockade lifted
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Published Friday, July 18, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Yellowknifer columnist Candace McQuatt will have quite a story to tell her relatives when she arrives at a family reunion in Kelowna, B.C., this weekend.
Smoke billowing into the air from the Reid Lake fire was visible from the Ingraham Trail Wednesday, currently burning about 20 kilometres from Reid Lake Territorial Park, about 120 kilometres east of Yellowknife. - John McFadden/NNSL photo |
She left her home in Yellowknife in her pickup truck with her two dogs Tuesday evening, but waited in Behchoko until about 6:10 a.m. Wednesday before being led through the burn zone.
"I knew there had been fires, but nothing prepared me for what I saw." she said.
"It was unbelievable. For kilometres, no green left at all, just a charred smoldering and black landscape."
McQuatt said at no point did she fear for her safety, but she said the burn zone was a scary sight that she'll never forget.
"It was crazy. I imagine that area will be scarred for years," she said.
The blockade that had cut off the only road in and out of Yellowknife was lifted Thursday morning - welcome news to Yellowknifers for whom forest fires situation had hit too close to home earlier in the week.
On Tuesday night, residents dealt with a power outage as ash rained from the sky and smoke from a newly-lit forest roughly 50 km northwest of the city filled the air. Since then, firefighters with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) have successfully extinguished three fires within 40 km of the city.
Two fires were started by lightning northwest of the city on Wednesday - one roughly 12 km away and another roughly 40 km away. Both of those fires were attacked by fire crews and are now out, according to a wildfire update from ENR.
"We put the water bombers on them right away because they were close, but the tankers extinguished both fires in short order," said ENR spokesperson Judy McLinton.
Crews also doused a third fire that was lit by lightning Wednesday about 41 km north of Yellowknife. That fire was being mopped up as of yesterday afternoon.
Department of Transportation (DOT) spokesman Michael Conway said the barriers on Highway 3 between Behchoko and Fort Providence came down at 10:30 a.m. yesterday.
Conway said the fire that crossed Highway 3 between Behchoko and Fort Providence earlier this week is still burning, but is no longer directly threatening the road.
A 10-km long wall of fire crossed the highway Monday night, melting chipseal and destroying road signs.
"The smoke has lifted a lot and at this time visibility is not a problem for drivers," said Conway.
That stretch of highway has been closed sporadically because of smoke and fire most of this month. At times, vehicles have been escorted through the smoke zone by a DOT vehicle.
"Because we've used the convoys to help drivers get through the smoke, there was not a big backlog of traffic waiting to get through," said Conway.
He added the vast majority of drivers have been taking the delays in stride.
"Most of them realize the drive can become a very dangerous situation with the smoke and the fire," he said. "They don't seem to mind the wait."
Conway said a new fire did break out near kilometre 198 not far from the old Whati winter road sometime late Wednesday or early Thursday.
"It's not a big fire and it's not affecting the highway right now," he said. "Motorists need to be aware, however, that conditions can change quickly and the highway could be closed again on a moment's notice."
The stretch of Highway 3 between Yellowknife and Behchoko that was closed Monday night until mid-morning Tuesday could also be closed on short notice.
When Yellowknifer visited the Reid Lake Territorial Park on Wednesday, fire crews were out conducting a back burn that didn't work out quite as planned.
McLinton said firefighters conducted a back burn Wednesday, essentially trying to turn the blaze back on itself, but the fire didn't co-operate.
"It jumped the (containment) line and is now headed south toward the Hearne Lake and Campbell Lakes area, but they were successful in keeping the fire away from the Ingraham Trail," said McLinton.
There are areas of value at risk if the fire continues on its current path, including the Hearne Lake Lodge and several cabins, she added.
"Two water bombers are working on the front of that fire and our crews are monitoring the fire and assessing what the next course of action should be," said McLinton, who emphasized there is still no direct forest fire threat to the City of Yellowknife.
Wes Steed, ENR's fire prevention co-ordinator, left his home base in Fort Smith Wednesday to get a first hand look at the camp at Reid Lake Park.
"The personnel needed to fight the fires and co-ordinate the effort is staggering," said Steed.
He said dozens of firefighters and incident management team members have come to Reid Lake and elsewhere the NWT from across the country to help fight fires.
The latest group at Reid Lake arrived from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick earlier this week.
"Right now, we're dealing with three main areas of fires - this one here at Reid Lake, another which is being referred to as the Birch Lake Fire near Fort Providence and another not too far from Kakisa," Steed said.
He said aside from the front line firefighters and aviation units, others helping with the firefighting efforts include mapping experts, computer technicians and communications people.
"The mapping specialists can tell us where there have been fires in the past. Then our crews can try and direct the fire in that direction because it will have fewer trees and less fuel to burn," he said.
"We have to know where to send water bombers, but we also have to tell helicopters and float planes where to pick up crews. It's a huge job.
"We don't really put a lot of fires out. Our job is to control and manage the fires. Mother Nature has the ultimate say on when a fire is fully extinguished."
The department's NWT Fire website, which had maps showing the location of the fires has had some 1.5 million hits this month. That caused the site to crash for a short period on Tuesday.
Steed said more than 10,000 square kilometres - approximately the size of the country of Lebanon - have now been consumed by fire this season in the NWT.
"Because of the weather, the heat, the lack of precipitation and the wind we've had to throw the 'red book' out the window," Steed said.
The red book is the bible for forest firefighters, and included the Canadian forest fire danger ranking system.
But Steed said some of these large fires just aren't acting the way they should.
For instance, the complex of fires near Birch Lake between Behchoko and Fort Providence burned more than a kilometre and a half in less than 10 minutes at one point on Tuesday.
"We will not put firefighters in the path of a continually crowning fire," he said. "That's when the fire is at the top of the tress and is jumping from tree to tree. It's just too dangerous.
"We need two full inches or almost five centimetres of rain to get this firefighting process back to normal."
Alan Morton, the Reid Lake Park manager, was watching all the goings-on from his perch on the deck on the main gatehouse.
"We're busier than we would be if the park was open to campers," he said. "It doesn't make things difficult. These firefighters have a job to do and we all get along fine."
