The next two days will be critical in the fight against a wildfire on the outskirts of Yellowknife, officials shared in an update Thursday.
The fire burning just outside of the capital city was still 15 kilometres away from the municipality as of Thursday morning, but officials said conditions in the area were quickly deteriorating.
High temperatures, low moisture and brisk to heavy winds were expected to put “significant pressure” on the eastern premier of the fire in the North Slave region on Thursday and Friday.
“This is an important 48 hours in the effort to reduce the threat to the capital region with the possibility of fire escaping the perimeter and eastward growth,” the government of the Northwest Territories said in the update.
“We will be doing everything possible to continue to keep it at bay and keep making progress towards reducing wildfire threats to the area.”
More than 20,000 residents of the territorial capital were forced to flee their homes last week because of the fire, which continues to pose a threat to the region.
The territorial government’s fire danger forecast listed the fire risk conditions in Yellowknife as extreme for Thursday and Friday. In the nearby community of Behchoko, the fire risk conditions were listed as extreme from Thursday through to Saturday.
However, officials said the fire near the communities is unlikely to reach the outskirts of the capital city over the next three days and has been “held at bay.”
The success was attributed to the work of more than 320 personnel on the ground, including from the Canadian Armed Forces, aerial support from 13 helicopters, contractors supporting the community protection effort, structural firefighter imports, as well as some rain over the last few days.
Heavy smoke from nearby wildfires fills the sky in Yellowknife on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski
In the coming days, officials said flare ups and fire burning through the tops of trees could be periodically expected in Yellowknife. In Behchoko, the risk was deemed “minimal,” with the “odd” flare up due to the warmer sunny weather forecast for the next few days.
The latest update from the government of the Northwest Territories said the fire was roughly 1,741 square kilometres in size.
FIRES OF CONCERN IN SOUTH SLAVE REGION
Fires also posed an extreme fire threat to several communities in the South Slave region.
In Hay River, the fire danger forecast was listed as extreme for Thursday and Friday.
In Fort Smith and Fort Providence, the fire danger forecast was listed as extreme from Thursday through to Saturday.
Meanwhile, in Enterprise, the fire danger forecast was listed as extreme for Friday.
As of Wednesday afternoon, a fire dubbed “SS052” was about eight kilometres south of Hay River, 10 kilometres south of the Katlodeeche First Nation, 14 kilometres away from Kakisa and had “breached” and “significantly damaged” the community of Enterprise.
Officials said fire activity had increased in the southeast end of the fire since Tuesday, requiring more assets to be deployed in that area.
Another fire named the “Wood Buffalo Complex” remained approximately four kilometres south of Fort Smith as of Tuesday afternoon. It was about 4,530 square kilometres in size.
“Despite the overall fire growth, there was no significant growth towards Fort Smith (Monday) night,” the territorial government said in an update Tuesday.
“We recognize that this distance has not changed in the last week or so and we would like to stress that this is not an indication that the fire is not growing or that the threat is gone.”
Approximately 308 personnel, 24 helicopters and 57 pieces of heavy equipment were trying to extinguish and slow the spread of the Wood Buffalo Complex fire, officials added.
