Yukon Wildland Fire Management has rescinded all current wildfire evacuation alerts and orders in the territory.

“The books are clear,” fire information officer Haley Ritchie said today.

The Talbot Creek fire near Mayo has also had its status changed to “being held.”

Residents of Old Crow and Mayo, along with workers at Victoria Gold Corp.’s Eagle mine, have all been allowed to return, and no longer need to be ready to flee on a moment’s notice.

Wildland Fire is now getting ready to send 24 personnel out to help out in the Northwest Territories, joining two of its staff already in the N.W.T.

Crews from provinces working in the Yukon have also come to the end of their shifts and will be departing.

Meanwhile, Wildland Fire personnel still in the Yukon are taking the opportunity while conditions are right to do some controlled burning as they continue work on a large fuel break that protects the southeast side of Whitehorse.

The smoke plume visible from the Mary Lake area is from the work that fire crews are doing to extend and improve this fuel break.

“That has the potential to produce some smoke, but in the end, it reduces wildfire risk, it reduces risk of smoke that’s a lot worse in the future,” Ritchie said.

This is part of the broader effort to protect the city, which includes prescribed burning, FireSmart work and the planting of fire-resistant tree species.

“It’s part of that project to eliminate fuels and build a fuel break around Whitehorse,” Ritchie said.

Currently these efforts are reliant on having the right wind conditions and the fuel – the debris or piles on the forest floor – being dry enough to burn.

“It’s called a prescribed burn, the prescription is the weather, so if it gets out of prescription, they don’t do it,” she said. “It only goes ahead if conditions are good.”

Smoke is still visible from the Talbot Creek fire near Mayo. Fire crews are currently mopping up hot spots and say the fire no longer poses a danger to the village.

“We are no longer thinking it poses an immediate threat to the community,” Ritchie said.

In Old Crow, she said, there is still smoke in the area, but added hopefully some incoming rains will help to clear it out.

Despite the good news from active fires in the Yukon, Ritchie said that with the coming hot, dry weather, people should still keep checking updates from Wildland Fire.

Up-to-date information is available at https://wildfires.service.yukon.ca.