The Yukon government has offered to host Northwest Territories residents in the event that forest fires raging across the region force evacuations.

“As a good neighbour, we realize that in a jurisdiction as they have, as we are, with small populations but vast geographical areas, they have limited budgets as well, and they’ve been strained,” Premier Darrell Pasloski said in an interview late this morning.

“This is a gesture, a handout to our neighbours to the east, to say we know it’s been a tough summer and if there’s any way that we can assist, we’re certainly there and willing to provide it for you,” he told the Star.

So far this year, 344 fires have broken out in the Northwest Territories, affecting more than 2.5 million hectares of land.

Highway 3, the main road connecting Yellowknife to the rest of the country, has been closed several times due to smoke and poor visibility.

Air quality in Yellowknife has also been poor, measuring off the charts in recent days.

So far, though, there’s no need for evacuations, Pasloski said after speaking to N.W.T. Premier Bob McLeod on Tuesday.

“Certainly, in the event that there was a requirement to relocate some people, we have the capability to do that, and I know that we’ve talked to our partners, such as the City Ta’an Kwäch’än Council and the Kwanlin Dun First Nation, and I know that in the small chance that such a thing would happen, I know there would be Yukoners who would be willing to open their doors as well,” Pasloski said.

The Yukon’s Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) is on standby, with a plan in place to provide support if necessary.

“At this point, there is no alarm to say that such a procedure is to occur, we are just saying we’re ready to help in any way,” Pasloski said.

The EMO is responsible for co-ordinating the territory’s preparedness for major emergencies and disasters. It did not respond to the Star’s request for comment regarding details of hypothetical evacuations.

McLeod and Yellownknife’s mayor were also unavailable for comment on Pasloski’s offer.

In an emergency situation, the Yukon’s EMO mobilizes its Joint Emergency Operations Command Centre, which is used to co-ordinate the response to territorial emergencies by working in partnership with governments, agencies and organizations both in and out of the territory, according to a government news release.

Yukon firefighters are currently helping N.W.T. personnel battle the region’s blazes.

“I can also tell you very proudly that we’ve received some very positive feedback about their performance and their professionalism as well,” Pasloski said.

Yukon Wildland Fire Management crews have also been sent to British Columbia to assist with the fires there.

A spokesperson for Air North, which operates twice-weekly flights between Whitehorse and Yellowknife, could not be reached for comment on any role the airline might have in the premier’s offer.