Wildfire crews battling the blaze near Fort Liard are getting some help from around the NWT as they try to bring it under control.
Monday's update from NWT Fire showed that the wildfire measured 913 hectares and still sat 19 km southwest of the community. Winds out of the southwest were expected today, gusting up to 25 km/h, but the problem now is moisture in the air drying up.
Mike Westwick, information officer for FS002, as it's known, stated that the low moisture could cause unburned fuel within the fire’s perimeter to burn off, which could lead to local smoke in Fort Liard. However, he also stated that the winds are calm enough for crews to be able to continue to make good progress on beating back the flames.
Extra crews from the Beaufort Delta, North Slave and Sahtu regions are now on the ground and have joined in to provide support, he added, with some crews coming in from Yukon to help shore up the resources.
The job on Monday was to limit the fire's growth on the west side of the Liard River in order to prevent it from crossing to the east, while getting structure protections in place in the community. There is still no structure loss as a result of this fire, Westwick added.
Blacklining - extinguishing all fuel (vegetation) within the fire perimeter’s edge - is continuing today in the island, as is bucketing from helicopters. Westwick stated that blacklining is nearly complete on the island burn area with firefighters walking the fire's perimeter to look for any remaining hotspots within.