Up to $2 million in spending from city reserves has officially been approved to deal with the stubborn fire at the landfill.

Council quickly approved third reading of the bylaw for the spending at a special meeting late Tuesday afternoon, after the first two readings were passed Monday evening.

Mayor Dan Curtis, along with councillors Betty Irwin, Jocelyn Curteanu and Roslyn Woodcock, provided the four-member quorum needed for Tuesday’s meeting. They unanimously approved third reading.

Under its legislated procedures, council can’t vote for all three readings of a bylaw at the same meeting, thus necessitating Tuesday’s special meeting for the emergency spending.

“The fire constitutes a bona-fide emergency because of risk to public health, city property and the environment,” it was highlighted in a report to council Monday.

“For that reason, emergency funding for initial expenses has been approved by the city manager (Linda Rapp) pursuant to the city’s purchasing and sales policy.

“There are significant unforeseen expenses related to ongoing management of this fire that were not provided for in the 2018-2021 capital budget.”

Whitehorse firefighters first responded to the blaze when it was noticed at 10:22 p.m. last Wednesday in the construction and demolition waste area of the landfill. Much of the debris is from the old F.H. Collins Secondary School, which stood from 1963 to 2017.

The blaze had been contained, but flared up again early last Saturday morning, with smoke evident in parts of the city.

Along with city firefighters, volunteers from numerous departments outside of Whitehorse assisted in the response.

They were joined by staff with the Yukon government’s fire marshall’s office and Emergency Measures Organization. Local contractors have assisted with heavy equipment and such.

After Saturday, the fire was once again contained and is below the surface again, with the site being monitored 24/7. Soil and dirt have been added over the fire area.

Peter O’Blenes, the city’s director of infrastructure and operations, said in an interview after Tuesday’s meeting the fire continues to burn underground, with no indications of a flare-up throughout Tuesday.

He pointed to the monitoring being done on the site. He noted as well there is water stationed on-site ready to go if there are any issues.

There is little to no concern that the will flare up on three sides, as there is nothing next to those sides.

Adjacent to the soil barrier on one side though is part of the landfill where waste has been dumped and buried, O’Blenes said.

To address that, the city has an environmental engineer travelling here from B.C. today who will assist in placing bore holes at the site to ensure the fire isn’t spreading underground.

The engineer will also be training city staff on how to get carbon monoxide readings from the bore holes. That will provide information on whether the fire may be moving below the surface.

While the city has approved $2 million for the work to deal with the fire, officials have said it could be less depending on how things go.

It’s estimated the blaze has so far cost approximately $100,000 per day – and will reach the $1-million mark.

If the fire is able to be suppressed over time without much further work, outside of the required monitoring, it may not reach $2 million.

That potential spending, however, has been authorized if it’s needed due to any flare-ups and the like.