More human-caused fires in spite of ban

Four fires in the last day are of particular concern to forest firefighting officials, information officer George Maratos of Wildland Fire Management said today.

Four fires in the last day are of particular concern to forest firefighting officials, information officer George Maratos of Wildland Fire Management said today.

“All of those fires are under investigation because there is a ban on open fires and we are getting human-caused starts, so obviously there is going to be a more thorough investigation,” he said.

Fire crews quickly responded Sunday to public reports of fires at the base of Montana Mountain in Carcross, just south the Kookatsoon campground, and within the Faro municipal boundaries.

An initial attack crew of three firefighters were attending to a fire this morning at the Marsh Lake dump, with the local volunteer fire department providing support.

Fire duty officer Lorne Harris said in a statement Sunday the human-caused fires were disconcerting in these times of a fire ban due to dangerous burning conditions.

Though caught while they were small, the fires could have created a much more serious situation, he said.

There was little growth on the Mayo 2 fire, which has been re-calculated at 202 hectares.

Maratos said 25 personnel are staffing the fire, but with good headway to date, it’s expected they’ll begin downsizing the number of firefighters in the next day or two

The Dawson 1 fire is now estimated at 21,600 hectares, and is not staffed because it is burning in the wilderness zone.

“There are still no values at risk at this time and we are observing the fire daily,” Maratos said.

The Smith River fire in northwest B.C. in the area of the Liard Hot Springs is now estimated at 14,000-plus hectares.

“Fire activity was minimalized over the weekend,” information officer Jill Chimko of the Prince George fire centre said this morning.

“We are seeing a little bit of growth but not near what we saw at the beginning.”

When the Smith River fire made a 20-kilometre run last Wednesday, jumping in size from 2,000 hectares to 10,000, it forced the closure of the Alaska Highway for 24 hours.

It also prompted emergency evacuation orders for the small highway communities of Fireside, Coal River and the Muddy River Indian Reserve. The evacuation order was lifted Friday, but an alert for the communities remains in place.

Chimok said there were some travelling delays along the highway over the weekend because of smoke, and it’s likely more smoke delays can be expected for the next week or more.

There is a territory-wide ban on all open fires, except for campfires in the approved burn pits in territorial campgrounds, and in barbecues or other devices with lids.

Parks Canada, however, has implemented an all-out fire ban for the Kathleen Lake Campground south of Haines Junction because of an extreme fire danger rating.

Meanwhile, the danger rating across the territory has fallen in all other districts. It remains high in Whitehorse, Mayo, Dawson City and Carmacks; moderate in Ross River and Beaver Creek; and low in Watson Lake, Teslin and Old Crow.

“Some places got some precipitation, and the temperatures are a little cooler, and that will bring down the danger rating,” Maratos said. “It was not a significant amount of precipitation, but enough to bring it down.

“We are expecting some showers this week. But we are expecting to have some lightning with it.”

Maratos said the Yukon did not get the amount of lightning activity over the weekend that fire management officials were expecting, though the territory did receive a little.