The wildfire near Fort Liard continues to burn out of control and has grown since Monday evening.
NWT Fire's latest update showed that FS002, as it's known, is now 873 hectares in size and still sits 19 km southwest of the community. Five fire crews, three helicopters and two structure protection units are currently fighting the flames.
MIke Westwick, the information officer for the fire, stated that warm and dry conditions were expected to continue through the day with lighter winds from the west and southwest being lighter, but still significant and 15 to 20 km/h gusting to 35 km/h.
The daytime temperature expected to reach 17 C, he added, and all of that together could dampen efforts to prevent the fire from crossing to the east shores of the Liard River.
There is a chance of thunderstorms in the area on Tuesday, meaning a chance for more erratic winds and stronger wind gusts. There's also a chance of rain in the evening – one to two mm worth.
"This would be positive, but not game-changing and may come with lightning, which comes with the risk of new ignitions, especially under drought conditions," stated Westwick.
There is still no structure loss related to the fire, but brisk winds continued through much of the night, he added.
On the west side of the Liard River, there was some eastward growth towards the water and northwest growth away from it. There was also growth toward the shore of Ash Island, but the fire has not reached the eastern shore of the river as of Tuesday morning and has not advanced closer to the community.
Helicopters are focusing their bucketing on Ash Island to lower intensity and try to stop embers from jumping, while fire crews are in the field working on Ash Island to reduce the chance it spots to the eastern shores.
Westwick indicated that safety will be consistently reassessed throughout the day and crews may be repositioned as required based on what the winds do.