Wildland crews continue to battle wildfires concentrated in the Dehcho and Sahtu regions, but fire activity is also increasing in the South Slave and in the North Slave regions. Wildfires near Behchoko and Gameti saw increased growth due to weather conditions. On Wednesday, NWT Fire issued a special bulletin after a wildfire was spotted close to Fort Resolution.
Despite extreme fire weather conditions, Wildland crews made progress in reducing fire activity even in the Dehcho region. The latest scan on FS016 and FS04 showed heat signatures had reduced to about one fifth since last week.
DEHCHO
The Antoine Lake Complex wildfire remains classified as out of control with its perimeters to the north and east active and moving away from the community.
“Areas in and adjacent to the community have been suppressed to the extent that the community is no longer at risk from this fire,” said Wildland officials.
Wildland crews said while FS016 and FS014 have grown to 63,187 hectares, growth has been primarily on the north and south flanks away from the community.
They said due to smoke and visibility challenges, air response has been difficult.
Crews reported that lingering smoke and low-level inversion has meant limited ventilation across the area. Community members in Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ and Fort Simpson have been struggling with the affects of wildfire smoke.
Wildland crews also continued working with tree assessors and danger tree fallers alongside Wildland Urban Interface crews.
For weeks now crews have continued to work to extinguish remaining hotspots, including deep ash pits and heat trapped underground in tree roots, stumps, and organic soil.
Wildland officials said an infrared drone scan completed on July 23 showed significant progress in comparison to a scan conducted about one week ago, which had showed more than 6,000 heat signatures across the fire area.
“The most recent scan identified approximately 1,200 heat signatures, reflecting the continued success of crews locating and extinguishing hotspots.”
Wildland crews from Atla. are working with water tenders to respond to hotspots along Four Mile Access Road and within residential areas.
Crews have also continued mop-up from the road northwards to the Mackenzie River and areas on the north, south and east side of Hwy 1.
“Excavators are being utilized to open deep burning berms to allow crews to extinguish hot spots. Crews will remain in place to patrol this area and ensure no hotspots are present,” said NWT Fire.
An evacuation alert remains in place for the community after an evacuation order issued in late June was lifted on Saturday.
Another community in the Dehcho remains under an evacuation order.
Wrigley
The community of Wrigley is closing in on one month of an evacuation order issued due to FS015 in late June.
The wildfire was last measured at about 19,717 hectares in size and is located about 5 km from the community.
“Most of the growth occurred on the easterly side of the fire’s perimeter, burning further into the mountain range,” said crews.
Their priority remains securing the overall south flank of the fire.
Crews have been unable mobilize an aerial response due to wildfire smoke creating visibility barriers.
“Smoke in the area is making it challenging for firefighting from the air, but pilots are taking any opportunity to drop water on the southern flank and any new hot spots created by the fire,” said Wildland officials.
A high-volume water suppression system has been installed at the northern perimeter of the community as a precaution. This system is designed to protect the community and shore up the fire break if needed
SAHTU
VQ071, located about 20 kilometres north of Deline saw limited activity with no growth towards Deline, said Wildland crews. VQ066, located about 40 km south of Deline is located showed some activity over the last few days. Wildland officials said there was limited growth towards Deline.
“Wildfire crews and aircraft will continue to work on this fire as weather permits, and there is no risk to the community, cabins or infrastructure at this time,” said NWT Fire.
VQ065, located 30 km north of Deline increased in size, burning to the west. Wildland crews said they are closely monitoring the blaze.
SOUTH SLAVE
SS046-26, located about 35 km southwest of Fort Resolution and 15 km southwest of Little Buffalo Crossing was spotted yesterday.
Wildland officials issued a bulletin Wednesday afternoon notifying the community about this wildfire. Crews were able to prevent the fire from expanding.
“Air tankers and helicopters worked hard yesterday to hold the fire at 20ha. 3 crews and 1 helicopter are working the fire and are holding the east and north flanks and are working secure the south and west flanks. There is no risk to Fort Resolution, Highway 6 or any cabins at this time,” said Wildland officials in an update on Thursday evening.
NORTH SLAVE
ZF028, located about 28 km north of Behchoko, on the north side of Marian Lake saw further growth due to dry, windy conditions. The blaze was last measured at about 15,000 hectares in size.
Wildland officials said some structure protection has gone up and is being maintained.
ZF049 and ZF058, located about 35 km west of Gameti were last measured at about 14,350 hectares in size combined. Crews reported the wildfires have grown quickly due to extreme fire weather.
Visibility challenges due to smoke have made response efforts difficult.
“Thick smoke has hampered efforts to assess the fire. Remote monitoring continues until such time we can get an on site assessment,” said Wildland officials.
The latest updates on wildfires can be found at NWT Fires website and social media pages.
The latest safety updates can be found at GNWT’s safety pages.
