Firefighters leap into pond to escape blaze

by SEAN McNEELY  Star Reporter

Four firefighters were forced to jump into a pond to avoid being consumed by the Fox Lake forest fire last Saturday.

In the early afternoon, the winds picked up on the blaze, which then became very active. During the long weekend, the blaze destroyed one out-building, knocked out a power line on the North Klondike Highway and closed the artery for several hours.

Four fire crew members, three men and a woman, were planning to evacuate the area on the northwest flank when the winds caused thick smoke to obscure the vision of helicopter pilots.

With the fire quickly approaching, the four were forced to take cover by jumping into a nearby pond. They remained there for two hours until activity decreased.

As the quartet entered the chilly water, their radios immediately went dead, making it impossible for them to signal their location.

Fortunately, the pond was fairly close to their rendezvous checkpoint, so they were quickly discovered after the smoke cleared.

All were taken to Whitehorse General Hospital, treated for smoke inhalation and released.

Gordon Dumas, head of forest protection, declined to release the names of the firefighters today but said that it was an extremely traumatic experience for all of the them.

"The wind and the noise of the fire, it's like a freight train," he said.

As well, after sitting in the cold water for two hours, the group was forced to immediately make a small fire for themselves to warm up.

Dumas said one of the four has 15 years' experience fighting fires, and probably calmed the others down.

Two of the firefighters returned to their jobs today.