CRESTVIEW BLAZE STILL OUT OF CONTROL
By: Dave White – Yukon News Reported

Fire fighters are still struggling to contain a massive forest fire burning out of control about three kilometers from the Creek-view subdivision in Whitehorse.

Forest fire official Al Beaver says they hope to have a line cut around the entire blaze by early this afternoon.

Beaver calls the fire situation in all districts of the Yukon "extremely volatile."

Last night about 120 residents of Echo Valley and area were evacuated as the unpredictable fire roared towards their homes. So far there are no report of homes being destroyed.

About 60 professional forest firefighters from B.C. have joined federal government crews and municipal firefighters on the job, bringing the number of professionals fighting the fire to 140.

The firefighters have six bulldozers, eight air tankers and more than six ground tankers at their disposal.

The fire, which started around noon Thursday, has already consumed about 1,500 acres of forest in the northwest end of the city.

Officials don’t know for sure how the fire started. They suspect it was caused by a person but have not said if it was deliberately set.

The fire started near the old shooting range on Haeckle Hill.

Fire fighters were optimistic the fire could be contained Thursday afternoon, but as night approached the blaze erupted in the tinder-dry forest, spewing a huge column of thick, black smoke into the sunny evening sky.

Around 3:30 p.m. Thursday a pilot reported a fire crew was almost trapped by the blaze as it ripped through the forest.

So far there have been no reports of any injuries.

Smoke forced the closure of the Alaska Highway from the Mayo Road to Mile 934 just before midnight. A steady stream of vehicles through the road-block at the Mayo Road signalled the size of the evacuation.

People leaving their homes checked in with an Emergency Measure Organization post at Yukon College. Several hotels donated rooms for the night. Other evacuees stayed with family and friends.

Five city buses were put into action to help move evacuees out of the area. The buses returned empty when the site commander ruled there were enough private vehicles in the area to mount the evacuation.

One woman phoned a radio station and pleaded for help in evacuating herself and her 42 dogs from the threatened area.

RCMP says some people are determined to say with their homes in spite of the threat.

Spectators watched from parking lots and streets Thursday huge sections of forest went up in flames. As the smoke passed over the sun, an orange glow blanketed the city.

Bright flames continued to flicker on hillsides all night.

By Friday morning the temperature had cooled and the flames were less visible.

Traffic was again moving down the Alaska Highway, which was reopened at about 2:30 a.m., but city bylaw officers and RCMP were blocking roads into the fire.

An RCMP officer at the enterance to the Echo Valley subdivision said this morning that some residents who had been evacuated were returning to pick up belongings and food for their animals.

The only visible sign of the massive blaze threatening the city this morning was a dense haze hanging over the wooded hills in the affected area.

The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs released its regular daily Yukon forest fire report just hours before the blaze erupted Thursday.

The report listed the fire hazard in Whitehorse as very high. Many other areas of the Yukon were listed as being very high or extreme fire hazard areas after several days of unrelenting heat and dryness.

As of Thursday morning crews were battling only four forest fires in the territory, one in Teslin and three in Watson Lake.

Weather forecasters aren’t bringing the weary crews any good news. The weekend forecast calls for more hot, dry weather with temperatures climbing into the high 20s and the chance of precipitation slight.