N.W.T. fire update: Reid Lake cabin owners warned of nearby fire
Firefighters battle blaze near popular campground, near Yellowknife, as other crews sent south to Oregon
The Government of the Northwest Territories is warning cabin owners and campers at Reid Lake, located northeast of Yellowknife, of a nearby wildfire.
The fire is burning on the southeastern shore of Reid Lake, approximately 4 kilometres from the cabins located on the lake. There are approximately 12 cabins located at Reid Lake.
Territorial duty officer Mike Gravel says that although the fire is encroaching on the campground, there is no immediate danger to campers or cabin owners.
However, Reid Lake Territorial Park has been placed under an evacuation alert. A statement from NWT Parks reads that "the park could be closed on short notice and campers and park users should be prepared for an evacuation."
"The closest point [to the campground] is probably 6 kilometres right now, and there's still some water features that it would need to go around in order to get to the campground," said Gravel. "What we're looking at are [backburning] strategic locations, to, essentially, minimize the spread to high value areas."
The fire has grown to approximately 20,000 hectares, and is currently being fought by 30 firefighters, as well as three helicopters and most of the territory's air tanker fleet.
Gravel said that for the time being, the Reid Lake campground remains open and cabin owners are not being told to stay away. However, cabin owners have been advised that they may be requested to leave on short notice.
'Fairly quiet' across territory
The Reid Lake fire, though, is currently the only one being actively fought by the territorial government, according to Gravel, who described the situation as "fairly quiet" across the Northwest Territories.
"If you look at the N.W.T. as a whole... if you run a line from Behchoko to Hay River, everything to the west is fairly low to moderate fire danger," he said, "and everything to the east is high to extreme fire danger."
Luckily, there have been few lightning strikes in the high-to-extreme area resulting in only a few new fires being started over the past week. However, Gravel says, "the problem with it is any existing fires are now under this extreme fire danger, so the fire behaviour we're seeing is really challenging to deal with."
Due to the relatively low amount of fires currently being fought by N.W.T. firefighters, 10 territorial crew members, as well as one air tanker group, have been sent to Oregon to assist with wildfires in the northwestern United States.
This season, 214 fires in total have started across the Northwest Territories, though many have been put out or are in areas considered low risk.
Open air fire ban in Yellowknife
In the territorial capital, "extremely dry conditions" have led to the city placing a ban on open air burning within city limits.
"An immediate mandatory open burning ban has been placed into effect for the City of Yellowknife until further notice," reads a government release. "This ban will include the use of approved fire pits within Yellowknife."