As residents of Yellowknife, Ndilo and Dettah prepare to return home, the latest update from NWT Fire shows not much has changed.
But it also showed that the threat is still very much there.
According to the update on Sunday morning, the Behchoko/Yellowknife fire (ZF015) is classified as being held, meaning that it is not likely to spread beyond its boundaries. It sat at a size of 167,082 hectares and is 15 km away from from the city’s municipal boundary at its nearest point.
The evacuation order for Yellowknife, Ndilo and Dettah is scheduled to be downgraded to an evacuation alert on Wednesday at noon, and the roadblock preventing people from getting past Behchoko will be taken down.
Crews are working on mopping up and bucketing hot spots along the fire’s edges, as well as demobilizing structure protection units within the city.
The Ingraham Trail fire (ZF011) is also classified as being held, but still poses a threat to nearby landmarks such as Prelude Lake and Prosperous Lake. That fire is at 50,125 hectares with crews mopping up and bucketing hot spots.
The Dettah fire (ZF085) remains out of control, though still sits around 29 km outside the community. Flames have reached several lakes, including Defeat Lake, Hearne Lake, and Watta Lake.
Fire ZF012 was measured at 17,316 hectares and sat 13 km north from Fishback Lake, 9 km west of Duncan Lake, and 43 km north of Yellowknife.
The forecast for Sunday called for wind with the temperature hovering around 10 C with a chance of showers.