A weekend fire in a gully north of the Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport is now being monitored for flare-ups, but according to the Whitehorse Fire Department, there are currently no more active flames.

The fire was burning on a steep embankment, and never grew beyond the slope. The size of the fire was well below a hectare, according to acting Fire Chief Jason Wolsky.

Wolsky told the Star this morning the cause is “under investigation,” and the RCMP have an open file looking into the cause.

Police could not be reached for comment before press time 
 this afternoon.

Wolsky said the fire is technically not yet entirely extinguished because it’s burning in old piles of logs that have rolled down into a steep embankment.

That has made it difficult for fire crews to pull the material apart and put out all hot spots.

The material is comprised of cut logs and brush piles which, according to Wolsky, had at some point been pushed over the edge of the embankment.

Yukon Wildland Fire Management crews have now done their portion of this work, and the site will be monitored over the next week to 10 days.

The fire was first reported at 7:29 p.m. Friday, with firefighters arriving about 10 minutes later. Because it’s a brush fire, it was responded to by Whitehorse firefighters and the Wildland fire crew.

They then got the airport fire department and other local volunteer fire crews involved to help truck in water.

There were up to 23 personnel fighting the blaze at different points throughout the weekend.

A news release from the City of Whitehorse warns residents to expect to continue to see and smell smoke over the coming days.

“The City would again like to thank the (airport) fire department, Golden Horn Volunteer Fire Department, Hootalinqua Volunteer Fire Department and Ibex Valley Volunteer Fire Department and Wildland firefighters for their prompt response and support tackling this fire,” the city said.