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2004 - Yukon Wildfire Bulletins

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Wildfire Bulletin #44

July 13, 2004 - 9:30 AM

Two Fires Reported By Carmacks

There were two fires confirmed last night in the Carmacks district.

One of the fires is 60 hectares in size in Wildland Fire Management's (WFM's) wilderness zone. The fire was found to be south of Detour Lake.

The other fire, spotted thirty feet from the highway by Tatchun Creek, was actioned by fire crews and two helicopters. The fire was reported at 0.1 hectares in size. The RCMP piloted traffic through as the firefighters worked on the fire, which was under control by 10 p.m. last night. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The fire by 10 Mile Creek in the Dawson district was also battled yesterday by fire crews. The crews, including one A-Star, a jet ranger, and a one by three initial attack crew from Ontario, conducted a burnout operation yesterday on the site.

There was a cat-guard put around the camp. The fire spotted over the camp to the other side of the valley. The crews conducted a burn off on both sides around the camp.

After being informed by a burn boss that it was safe to do, miners stayed on the site. The burnout is considered a success.

**New Fires-Past 24 Hours**
South of Detour Lake CA#16	60 hectares	Fire is in a wilderness zone.
Tatchun Creek CA#17	0.1 hectares	Fire was battled by fire crews and helicopters. It was declared under control by 10 p.m. last night.

**Yukon Fires Being Actioned**
Goldfields Complex DA #9,10, 12, 21,30, 37	over 127,000 hectares	French Gulch (21): Upgrading existing road in area to access the south flank of the fire more easily. Crews also worked on spots fires. Dominion (10): Crews worked on construction of catguard running south from the highway to the fires east flank. Dempster (30): Spot fires required bucketing all day. Haystack (09): Burnouts will be conducted when conditions are favorable.
10 Mile Creek DA#38	Approx. 15 hectares	Underwent a value protection operation yesterday. Crews may go to the site again today if conditions allow them to.
Frances Lake WL#17	Estimated at about 25,000 hectares	Drying trend is revealing hot spots scattered about the perimeter. The fire has not made any significant gains given light winds. All protected sites continue to be monitored which crews establish a control line on the northeast corner of the fire off the Campbell Highway.
Tom Lake near Sa Dena Hess mine site WL#26	7,500 hectares	Very good progress has been made on the section of the fire closest to the Sa Dena Hess mine site. Hot spotting further south and north is occurring given the weather.
Stewart Lake WL#04	9,000 hectares	Fire still contains numerous hot spots despite past rain in area. Monitoring continues of values at risk along Campbell Highway south of Simpson Lake.

**BC Fires**
Coal River BC Fire 232	27,700 hectares	Fire is in mop up and patrol status. Most resources have been withdrawn. Small flare-up occurred on the southwest flank and was contained by BCFS crews.

Advisories

Travelers are advised to drive along the Klondike Highway between 4 a.m. and noon, as those are slow burning periods. There have not been any significant delays over the past few days. Pilot cars are in place, if required.

Travelers are urged to phone the Yukon Road Report for current updates at 867-667-3710 or 1-877-456-7623 before traveling.

Any residents in the Yukon concerned about smoke are encouraged to call their local nursing station or hospital.

Although the current fire ban has been modified for southern Yukon and the far north, Wildland Fire Management would like to remind people that burning fires only applies in commercial and government campgrounds. The forest floor is drier than it appears. Also, smoke from fires out of commercial and government campgrounds is often reported, and consequently fire crews must go out and investigate. Fire officials are also anticipating the weather to warm up once again this week.

There have been 189 fires in the Yukon burning over 921, 000 hectares of forest.

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2004 Bulletin Archive