Highway 3 already under fire watch
Risk to Yellowknifers slim to none, say forestry officials
Meagan Leonard
Northern News Services
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
It's only May but already Highway 3 is at risk for sudden closure due to a higher than average number of wildfires burning in the region.
Smoke rises into the sky near the Bluefish Dam after a raven hit a transformer and caused a forest fire last summer – one of many to afflict the North Slave last year. Currently the closest fire to the capital is 30 kilometres outside Behchoko. - NNSL file photo |
The NWT Department of Transportation announced Monday the highway could close any time as thick smoke makes its way toward the road between Fort Providence and Behchoko.
Richard Olsen, fire operations manager for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, says they are experiencing an even higher volume of fires than last year at this time with 39 blazes currently reported compared to three or four in 2014. The majority are in the Fort Simpson/Deh Cho area with the most intense action 40 km outside Trout Lake. There are no communities in the NWT at risk at this time, including Yellowknife, Olsen added. The closest blaze to the city is located across the North Arm of Great Slave Lake, 30 km southeast of Behchoko.
"To the north of it is the lake and it's also got a fair amount of fire history between it," he explained.
"The probability of that fire getting the chance to go toward Yellowknife is extremely low, it's almost close to zero. The bigger risk is to the south and west."
Although cooling temperatures coming down from Nunavut through an Arctic weather system have the potential to alleviate some of the problem, Olsen warned things still could get worse over the next week.
"Currently, burning fires are still expected to have the potential to grow if they're not contained and there still remains a relative risk of new fire starts as we look toward the weekend," he said.
Typical drought ratings for this time of year fall between one or two hundred, says Olsen. But already in some areas, such as those in the Deh Cho are climbing to more than 500. At the height of the fire season last year, ratings topped more than 1,000. The index is determined based on moisture in the ground and the potential flammability of organic material such as logs and trees.
"From a fire perspective, once we cross over that 500 number we're really at where we're going to see burns ... move across the land, maintain themselves and burn quite deeply," he said. "You'll see a lot of trees fall over and the conditions are a little more difficult to suppress."
As of May 25, Fort Providence had the highest drought code, and so far 1,063 hectares of forest has burned territory-wide. Olsen cautioned the public not to make fires unless it is absolutely necessary during these type of conditions, whether it be for cooking or keeping warm.
"They really should consider whether they think they need that in the first place," he said, adding, "They need to make absolutely sure that they choose a spot that's going to be safe."
Right now water bombers are in place in Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Fort Simpson and Hay River, along with the territory's entire fleet of helicopters in service and 23 of 28 fire crews.
"At this point in time we've pretty much manned up all our aircraft and human resources in advance of what we normally would," said Olsen. "We're dealing with a fire environment that's looking to be about two weeks to upward of a month ahead of what we would normally expect."
Monday saw the evacuation of 2,000 people from Wabasca Lake and Black Cree Nation Reserve in northern Alberta after an out of control blaze led to a state of emergency being issued.
Another 500-hectare fire burning 25 km east of the community of Slave Lake also led to an evacuation earlier this week. The province currently has 29 reported wildfires.
For fire updates or to report a blaze visit the territory's NWT Fire website.
