Takhini Bridge fire now being held as Nova Scotia firefighters join Yukon crews

The wildfire burning in the Yukon's Ibex Valley just west of Whitehorse is now classified as being held, and firefighters are working to get it fully under control.

In a news release late Sunday evening, the Yukon government said fire officials are confident that the fire will stay inside control lines, as long as conditions don't change. The 1,546-hectare wildfire is fully surrounded by a dozer guard.

The news came as a team of 20 firefighters from Nova Scotia flew to the Yukon to help fight that fire. They'll be parking their tents outside Whitehorse's Hidden Valley School for the next two weeks.

This weekend saw a crew of 35 firefighters, including 14 people from the Yukon First Nations Wildfire Unit, working in the area. The firefighters' work was supported by an incident management team, seven heavy equipment operators and staff operating two helicopters.

Fire information officer Haley Ritchie said the addition of 20 more people on the ground will be a big help.

"The more people you have, the quicker you can get the work done," she said. "Our crews have been working really hard on this fire and this will give them some time off to reset. Fatigue is a real risk when you're doing this kind of work." 

The Nova Scotian crew flew to Whitehorse on the same plane that brought Yukon athletes to the North American Indigenous Games in Halifax last week.

They landed on Sunday at 9 a.m., and proceeded to an agency briefing on the Yukon fire situation.

"We gave them an overview of how fire works in the Yukon so they have the details they need to be safe," Ritchie said Sunday. 

Ritchie said the extended daylight hours may be an adjustment for some members of the Nova Scotian crew.

Some of them experienced northern conditions while fighting fires in the Northwest Territories this May. Normally, firefighters spend 14 days working in another province or territory, but their time in the N.W.T. was cut short because their help was needed back home.

Scott Tingley, the manager of Fire Protection with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, said he's confident the Nova Scotian crew will get to spend a full 14 days working in the Yukon.

"We've had an incredible amount of rain since the Tantalon and Barrington fires," he said. "We haven't had a new wildfire for at least a week in Nova Scotia, and anything we've been getting in the last couple of weeks has been relatively small."