Photo: File photo of Mike Biden
Wildfires are raging in the Yukon as lightning strikes the territory and the heat wave continues, a fire official says.
Mike Fancy of Yukon Wildland Fire Management says about 20 fires per day were started at the start of the long weekend, bringing the total this year to 155 wildfires that have burned 45,000 hectares.
Fancie described the proportion of fires caused by lightning as “incredibly high” at 97 percent, compared to about 70 percent in a typical year, with the rest caused by humans.
There were more than 3,000 lightning strikes on Monday alone, 484 of which were positive, bringing with them an increased fire danger, he said.
“The sheer volume of lightning activity and new fires over the past few days has completely obliterated those statistics,” he said.
“The Yukon is currently facing unprecedented levels of wildfires caused by lightning.”
The fires come after Environment Canada issued a heat warning for much of the territory, while fires and flooding prompted evacuation warnings in several areas. Multiple highway closures are also impacting transportation and access to communities.
The Yukon Emergency Management Organization issued a new evacuation warning for the Silver Trail and surrounding areas on Tuesday. Ethel Lake Campground was evacuated Saturday.
Of particular concern is the Crystal Lake fire in central Yukon, which has grown to 2,500 hectares and prompted an evacuation warning Sunday for Stewart Crossing, about 15 kilometers away. The fire also forced the closure of part of the Klondike Highway, an important transportation link between Whitehorse, Dawson and Mayo.
Meanwhile, flood warnings have been in effect since last week for areas around Teslin Lake and the Yukon River near Carmacks.
Many of the challenges are caused by a so-called Rex block weather system, which occurs when a high-pressure system sits over a low-pressure system and brings isolated thunderstorms, Fancie said.
“Why they are bad for us is that they are very stable weather patterns. So when a ridge of high pressure sits over us like that, it invariably means that we can expect that weather condition for an extended period of time and that’s what’s happening,” he said.
Forecasters are predicting lower temperatures on Friday and Saturday, but it’s too early to count on that, he said.
The Yukon has already requested additional support through mutual aid agreements from British Columbia.
There were 104 active fires on Tuesday, compared to 36 on the same date last year. The total burned area as of Tuesday morning was 42,979 hectares, compared with 27,492 in 2021, he said.
Environment Canada also issued a heat warning Tuesday for much of the territory, urging residents to drink plenty of water and seek cool places.
Temperatures are expected to reach 28 C with overnight lows of 13 C. The warning applies to Whitehorse, Old Crow, Dawson and other areas in the central, southern and western parts of the territory.
It comes after daytime temperature records were set in Haynes Junction, Carmax and Teslin on Monday, with heat hovering around 30C.
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