More lightning expected to feed fire activity

One unconfirmed fire was detected by MODIS satellite in the Dawson City district on Wednesday evening, says Wildland Fire Management.

One unconfirmed fire was detected by MODIS satellite in the Dawson City district on Wednesday evening, says Wildland Fire Management.

A patrol plane was scheduled to fly over the area today. Aerial detection flights have increased in the southern portion of the territory as the fire danger rating escalates and smoke intensifies because of large fires burning in the Whitehorse and Carmacks districts.

“Both of these fires are burning in areas with no immediate values at risk,” said Yukon duty officer Mike Sparks. “They are a significant size and will increase smoke in the surrounding areas, and fire officials are monitoring them closely.”

The fire burning 65 kilometres east of Carmacks is now 4,000 hectares in size and is very active.

A burn plan has been developed and hand and aerial ignition was done Wednesday on the fire’s northeast perimeter.

Additional hand and aerial ignition is planned today with 13 firefighters now on site. The blaze continues to burn away from Little Salmon Lake and is not currently posing an immediate threat to any properties.

In the Whitehorse district, the fire burning 65 kilometres northeast of Whitehorse near the Teslin River was more accurately mapped Wednesday at 1,564 hectares.

The fire was very active Wednesday evening but is not currently threatening any properties. Both this fire and the Carmacks fire are expected to bring smoke to the southern portion of the territory for the next few days.

Meanwhile, fire officials are gearing up for an increase in fire activity today as the weather conditions remain hot and dry and more frequent lightning activity is forecast.

One new airtanker group from British Columbia arrived Wednesday to join two dozen initial attack firefighters and an agency representative from that province arrived Tuesday.

“Already (this) morning, we were picking up a number of lightning strikes in the northern part of the territory,” said Sparks.

“Fortunately, we have brought in a number of Outside resources to assist our staff and are well-equipped to respond to new activity.”

Fire officials are urging the public to be safe when burning and reminds the public that burning permits are mandatory to burn grass, brush or debris in the territory and that burning permits will be suspended if the fire danger rating is moderate or higher.

On Tuesday, the Whitehorse Fire Department re-instituted a ban on open fires in city limits.

There have now been 51 fires in the territory burning approximately 37,781 hectares of forest.

For Yukon wildfire updates, call 1-800-826-4750.

Report wildfires at 1-888-798-FIRE (3473).