Furious forest fire is deemed out of control

By GERRY WARNER

A 3500-hectare forest fire raging out of control between Carmacks and Pelly Crossing forced the closure of the North Klondike Highway Monday night and left more than 50 travellers cooling their heels at the Minto Resort.

The highway is the main link between Whitehorse and Dawson City. It was re-opened early today but will be closed again from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. today so forestry crews can light backfires to control the blaze.

"It's been skipping back and forth across the highway between Kilometre 419 and 421," Allan Baranyk, the Department of Community and Transportation Services communications clerk, said this morning. "Deciding when to close (the road) is a tough one to call, but we're monitoring the situation closely."

Baranyk said backfires will be lit between Kilometres 416 to 425 during the road closure this evening. Flag persons are directing traffic along 10-kilometre stretch threatened by fire, he said.

The fire, which was sparked by a lightning strike Friday, has moved seven kilometres south since then, Baranyk said. Among the people forced to change their plans was the Canada AM crew, who cancelled their Dawson City engagement today.

The Minto Resort, midway between Carmacks and Pelly Crossing, got an unexpected rush of business Monday night as stranded travellers poured into the picturesque resort on the east banks of the Yukon River.

"We had the coffee pot on all night," said resort spokesman Pat Van Bibber. Most of the delayed travellers spent the night sleeping in their vehicles when they weren't gulping java.

"They were pretty good about it, and no one really complained," he said. Some of the travellers entertained themselves by watching the flames leap on the horizon about eight kilometres from the resort.

Meanwhile, Keith Kepke, the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development's fire management head for the Yukon, confirmed the as-yet unnamed Carmacks blaze is a big one and won't be brought under control for some time yet.

"Basically, it's doing whatever it wants right now," he said. The fire is crowning (burning in the forest canopy) and sending a billowing column of grey smoke up to 6,000 metres (20,000 feet) into the air.

About 30 men, 3 helicopters, 3 Cats are fighting the blaze, he said. The main strategy now is to keep it away from the Klondike highway and a few houses and other buildings in the area, he added.

"But now that it's jumped the road it's obvious that we're going to have to come up with a new plan," he said.

The fire jumped the road about 8 p.m. Monday near the south end of the blaze, he said.

Because of the cooler temperatures overnight, it's following the usual pattern of being of being fairly quiet until the late afternoon, when the heat of the day causes it to flair up again, he said.

Hot, dry weather forecast to continue until the weekend, is not helping the situation, he said. "It's supposed to be cooler on the weekend with scattered showers, but what we need is a steady rain."

Carmacks has had only 17.8 mm of rain the last two-and-a-half months, which has pushed the fire build-up index to 165. "That's about the highest I've ever seen in the Yukon," Kepke said.

The Carmacks fire weather index stands at 42 on a scale where 29 is considered extreme, he said.

"It's extremely dry around here," Kepke said. A low snow pack last winter is also contributing to the extreme fire hazard rating.

Lightning is what anxious forestry officials fear the most, he said. "If we get lightning, it means it will burn."

Despite the danger to man, Kepke says fire is a natural part of the cycle in the boreal forest and in the long run helps to renew and improve the forest.

"You have to learn to live with it. Mother Nature is in charge, and while people may worry about it, it's Mother Nature that will ultimately dictate what happens."

Today marks the fourth anniversary of the day the infamous Haeckel Hill fire began to escape control. Yukoners watched spellbound on June 20 – 21, 1991 as the massive blaze threatened Echo Valley, Crestview, and later the entire city of Whitehorse.

A full-scale evacuation plan was drawn up, though never implemented. A change in wind direction along with suppression efforts, was credited with the city being spared.