Campfire ignites makeshift camp off Yellowknife's Niven Lake Trail
City of Yellowknife clears brush on Frame Lake Trail as part of Fire Smart program
A makeshift camp off the Niven Lake Trail in Yellowknife caught fire last night, sending up smoke visible from some parts of the city.
Tarps and makeshift furniture were on fire — likely the result of a cooking fire that became out of control — says the Yellowknife fire department.
Firefighters ran a hose to the area between the Explorer Hotel and the Niven Lake apartments, and were able to put out the flames.
City clearing brush near trails
The fire came after officials spent yesterday clearing brush and doing other wildfire prevention work along the Frame Lake Trail as part of its FireSmart program.
"Doing that work will help crews be able to stabilize the area," Dennis Marchiori, the city's director of public safety.
"It doesn't fully stop a forest fire, because a forest fire with the heat that's behind it is going to keep rolling, but it allows you to have a defensible position. It will allow the Yellowknife fire division to go in there and set up any hoses, or any work we would need to do to prep for that area."
Marchiori says it will take 10 or 11 years to FireSmart the entire city.
The next area the city will work on is near Parker Park, in the Range Lake neighbourhood.