Forest firefighters need help from B.C. crews

By GREG RASMUSSEN  Star Reporter

Fire crews are being brought in from British Columbia to help deal with numerous fires sparked by lightning and kindled by record-high weekend temperatures in the Yukon.

A fire burning northeast of Ross River, one of 34 across the territory, managed to jump the North Canol Road over the weekend.

"When the fire’s burning along the road, we close it down," said Ross River RCMP Const. Cory Hoehn, adding that the road was closed at various times during the weekend.

The road is now open, he said, but may close again if the fire spreads. Hoehn said smoke from a number of fires in the area is visible "all over town."

Keith Kepke, federal fire management duty officer, said the Canol Road fire is being battled on the west, or road side of the fire. "It looks optimistic," Kepke said on the chance of controlling the fire’s spread.

He said firefighting resources are spread very thin across the territory and the plan is to hit new fires as soon as they are detected. "We’ve successfully contained most of the new ones," Kepke said, including 10 that flared up Sunday.

Ten B.C. firefighters are scheduled to arrive in Whitehorse today to help with initial attack on fires. The B.C. forest service firefighters are part of a rappel crew who lower themselves from helicopters into fire zones.

More than 1,800 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes were recorded Sunday by forestry’s computerized lightning detection system. These strikes, combined with hot weather, are sure to mean more new fires, Kepke said.

The hot spell is supposed to continue this week with temperatures declining to the mid-twenties by the weekend. "The combination of high temperatures and lightning inevitably means fires," Kepke said.

People and equipment are being sent to Dawson City to help deal with six fires in that district. "We ran out of resources there yesterday (Sunday)," Kepke said.

A 650-hectare fire 16 kilometres north of Dawson is "burning very intensely," he said. Another blaze, about 60 kilometres southwest of Dawson and last estimated at 260 hectares, is being successfully held by 30 firefighters.

A number of smaller fires scattered throughout the Yukon are not causing any major problems for the crews, Kepke said.

There have been 102 fires the Yukon so far this year.