Exhausted crews save Minto Resort from fire's devastation

By GERRY WARNER

Weary firefighters are praying for rain or a change in the wind today as a giant forest fire near Minto continues to burn out of control. It's forcing daily closures of the Klondike Highway and spreading a thick pall of choking grey smoke as far north as Klondike Camp at Kilometre 65 of the Dempster Highway.

Some 45 forest fires are blazing around the territory, with more expected to start after scattered thundershowers strike central Yukon tonight.

But firefighters scored a major victory late Wednesday, saving the historic Minto Resort and four or five other buildings in the vicinity.

"I'd like to congratulate the fire crews for being able to pull that off," said Keith Kepke, the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development fire management head for the Yukon. "It took a lot of sweat and hard work."

However, the battle for the lodge is not yet over, Minto Resort manager Geraldine Van Bibber said in a phone interview from the scene at 11:30 a.m. today.

"I feel pretty good about what happened last night, but we're still not out of danger. We got spot fires flaring up all over the place and choppers in the air trying to hit them with water buckets. There's two more fires burning across the river and there's smoke everywhere."

Van Bibber said her own family and crew are hosing down the buildings with garden hoses and two forestry water tankers and are also pouring water on the advancing flames. "All we can do is hope and pray that the wind stays with us and we don't lose it."

She said the area surrounding the lodge "looks as barren and desolate as the moon.

"It's going to have an impact on our (future) business, but our tour bus has already told us they'll be back."

Kepke said the leading edge of the mammoth blaze passed through the Minto Lodge area late Wednesday afternoon and evening and headed north, pushed by strong winds from the southeast.

At press time today, the head of the fire was located several kilometres north of the Minto airstrip and heading down the Yukon River in the direction of Pelly Crossing. Pelly is not considered in danger but several cabins along the river lie in the fire's path, said Kepke.

Meanwhile, road blocks on the Klondike Highway are being operated on an hour-to-hour basis with the vital link closed about nine hours Wednesday between the Robert Campbell Highway junction and Jackfish Lake at Kilometre 440.

"There's a heck of a lot of smoke up there, and it's starting to get smokey in the whole central Yukon," said Allan Baranyk, the Community and Transportation Services' communications clerk.

Beda Tremp, the Stewart Crossing Lodge's restaurant manager, said customers who came through the fire-ravaged area painted a graphic picture of the damage. "They were exhausted and red-eyed, and said it was just black on both sides of the road."

Meanwhile, visibility was down to fewer than three kilometres in Dawson City today, with food and freight shipments delayed up to 16 hours.

"We've been getting pretty low on some things, but most of our customers have been pretty understanding because they realize what's going on," said Darren Ogden, assistant manager of the Dawson City General Store.

Klondike Visitor's Association manager Robert Stevens said the effect on the tourist trade so far has been "minimal," and may ironically be helping business.

"People have been driving down the highway looking for the fire, and I guess as maudlin as it might sound, it's become another attraction."

But if the road closures go on much longer, "it's really going to start to hurt," said Stevens.

Tia Tutte, front desk manager of the Westmark Inn Dawson, said the hotel has been using Air North to fly out guests who couldn't make it by bus. "Most people have quite enjoyed it because they could see more out of the window of the plane."

Road closures have prevented some independent customers from arriving at the hotel. "But overall, the situation has kind of evened out," she said.

The Minto fire is so large that it was seen Wednesday from Aishihik Lake by Whitehorse resident Mike Martin.

"It was a very impressive column of smoke. It almost looked volcanic."