Taking stock of forest fire season
2014 marked by large fires
Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, October 16, 2014
DEH CHO
The size of the fires and the busyness of the season instead of the number of blazes is what set this year's forest fire season apart in the Deh Cho.
Jean Marie River had a close call on July 29 as a forest fire burned directly across the Mackenzie River from the community. Kakisa had an even closer brush with disaster as a forest fire came within 100 metres of a house earlier in the summer. - NNSL file photo
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Staff with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources are working on their reports and statistics from this year's forest fire season. The Deh Cho region, as defined by the department, had 52 fires, three of which are still active.
That number falls within the average number of fires the region has had on a yearly basis over the last 10 years, said Loyal Letcher, the department's regional manager of forests. Some of the fires were large, but no larger than normal.
In the Deh Cho, 1,361.88 square kilometres were affected by forest fires this year, putting it third out of the five regions in the NWT in terms of area burnt. The difference this year was in the pace of the season.
"It was extremely busy," Letcher said.
Many fires, particularly those near Jean Marie River, were close to valuable structures and the department had to fight the fires as a result. No structures were lost in the region this year. Letcher credits the region's fire crews for that record.
"They are well trained and very professional," he said.
The department also tried to do the initial attacks on fires near structures while the fires were still small.
Jean Marie River was the only Deh Cho community to be threatened by a fire this season. The majority of residents voluntarily evacuated on July 30 for a day as a fire burned across the Mackenzie River from the community.
There were also a number of fires this year in the McGill Lake area near Jean Marie River that threatened a variety of structures including Enbridge Pipelines (NW) Inc.'s pumping station, a Northwestel tower and trappers' cabins. It was the area in the Deh Cho where the majority of the fires were fought this year, Letcher said.
In the South Slave, which the department includes Fort Providence and Kakisa in, 152 fires burned over the summer. With a little more than 100 being the average, it was a slightly above average season, said Daniel Allaire, the department's regional manager of forests.
The South Slave had the largest fire in the territory for 2014. Six fires came together to form the Birch Lake Complex between Fort Providence and Behchoko, which covered 7,549.66 square kilometres.
The community of Kakisa also had a very close call. Residents voluntarily evacuated on June 27 because of an approaching fire that was approximately seven kilometres away at the time. It came a lot closer.
"The fire was basically 100 metres from the house," said Allaire, who was in the community during rhe fire's closest point.
Despite the close call, no structures were lost in or around Kakisa and residents began returning on July 4. A number of structures were lost to the Birch Lake Complex later in the summer including a lodge at Moraine Point and a number of cabins in three other areas.
Although it was never threatened, the complex created smoky conditions for Fort Providence. Twenty-nine kilometres is the closest the fires got to the community.
The season in the South Slave was unique because of the drought codes that reached more than 1,000 north of Fort Providence. The code reflects the average moisture content of deep, organic layers that sit above the mineral soil or permafrost. Any number above 400 is considered a drought.
With so little moisture in that level, it meant fires could burn very deep and intensely. It explains why the Birch Lake complex was able to become so large, he said.
The lack of precipitation this year led to the high drought codes. There are already signs that next year's forest fire season could be just as bad, if not worse. The department's meteorologist is forecasting a milder winter with less precipitation. Depending on the spring, it could become the third year of a drought, said Letcher.
