Ontario provides more help as Indian River blaze worsens

by CHUCK TOBIN  Star Reporter

Another fire management team is being brought in from Ontario to oversee bolstering firefighting efforts on the Primrose Lake blaze, which has grown to some 4,000 hectares.

In addition to the second management team, another 30 Ontario firefighters and 30 B.C. firefighters are being imported to staff fires and allow the Yukon's initial attack crews to remain in their initial attack rules.

There are already 40 Ontario firefighters among the 110 firefighting staff members on the 1,700-hectare fire in the Haines Junction area.

As well, a new lightning-caused blaze in the Indian River area near Dawson City has grown substantially since being report Sunday.

Fire management is now assessing whether the Indian River fire should be put under the direction of a third fire management team, Rod Raycroft, communications officer with Department of Northern Affairs, said this morning.

"The Dawson fire is estimated at 250 hectares," he said. "We do not know exactly, because of smoke in the area."

To date, fire suppression costs in the Yukon have hit an estimated $1.2 million, compared to last year's total cost of $767,000.

Suppression costs do not include wages for season and full-time staff, but do include items like the cost of hiring additional firefighting staff, Raycroft said. In 1995, one of the more costly years in recent times because of two large fires in the Minto area, suppression expenses hit $5.7 million. But as of June 9 that year, a mere $640 had been spent.

Since Haines Junctions #5 began 10 days ago, its suppression has consumed a lion's share of this year's spending, at an estimated $965,000.

Raycroft said Haines Junction #5 ran Monday for about another kilometre to the northwest, away from the community of 850.

The fire caused concern among Haines Junction and area residents because it started about 10 kilometres west of the village, close to the MacKintosh Lodge and MacKintosh subdivision. Concern by area residents was elevated even further because it was burning in tinder-dry and volatile spruce that was killed by spruce beetles.

The fire consumed more beetle-killed spruce during its run yesterday. However, it continued to fit together with management's hope the fire will run itself up against the alpine terrain of the Ruby Range.

The Primrose Lake fire is now tallying a suppression cost of $117,000, since suppression efforts did not start in earnest until last week, more than a week after the fire was detected.

Officials said they did not staff the fire initially because it was burning in a subalpine observation area.

Water bombers and a crew of eight have take up the firefighting effort over the last few days. They'll be joined today by the fire management team and the 20 B.C. firefighters, Raycroft said.

He said the decision to beef up efforts at the Primrose fire comes as it begins to burn in the Watson River valley.

"We just want to be able to control that a little bit better, and resourcing up is a good idea."

Two lightning fires burning in the Wolf Lakes region are staffed and being held at four and 15 hectares.

The Yukon's two largest fires estimated recently at 9,600 and 13,000 hectares – are burning in an observation zone southwest of Dawson, between the Yukon River and the Yukon-Alaska border.