A group of people are reminding others to be mindful of extinguishing their campfires after they took it upon themselves to put out a small wildfire near Banting Lake Friday.
Sarah Campbell, a prospector with TerraX Minerals, was collecting tree samples near the lake north of Yellowknife when she and geologist Shelbie Harkema discovered a 10-by-10-metre clearing that was smoking in several spots.
“We saw small flames in a couple areas,” said Campbell. “We started stamping them out and then when we realized it was kind of under the roots and it was a pretty big area, I called my supervisor.”
The pair had gathered a bunch of plastic bags, a bucket they saw at a nearby dock, and began going back and forth from the lake with water to dump over the fire.
But the fire didn't disappear.
“We'd put spots out and then another spot would kind of smoke up,” said Campbell, who then called her supervisor back for more help.
Eric Hebert, a senior geologist with the company, said he called the NWT's wildland fire hotline to report what the women saw.
“They said it's not the (fire) season, so they don't have any personnel on site,” said Hebert of the response when he called the hotline. “Usually at this time of year they just let the fire go.”
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources' seasonal crews and aircraft are done working for the 2017 season and monitoring of the hotline is limited during the fall, stated department spokesperson Dawn Curtis.
“However, (the department) is able to acquire resources if wildland fire conditions indicate the need,” she added.
Hebert said he wasn't really surprised by the response from the department, given the time of year.
So the company decided to call in its own help from nearby, after the department provided the TerraX crew with advice about how to proceed.
“Our helicopter company at Acasta … they said that they had a big bucket they could fill and fly over and drop it on us,” said Campbell, explaining the helicopter carried the bucket on a line, submerged it in lake water and carried it over the fire. “So we figured that was the best option.”
Meanwhile, Harkema helped keep the fire at bay as they waited for the helicopter to fly over. She said the situation is a good reminder that it's important people ensure their fires are out if they light them in the bush, and that the spruce aren't caught on fire.
“Because that's exactly what happened,” said Harkema. “The roots caught and that just smolders for days, weeks.”
The fire relatively close to a cabins owned by Walt Humphries.
Humphries said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources informed him of the fire, but he was a little surprised no one came to check anything out.
When he went to see the area for himself, it was only about 75 metres from his cabin, he said. “TerraX did a great job of putting it out,” he said, adding if the weather was dry enough, a small fire could take off into something bigger. Humphries estimated it would have taken him at least a day to put the fire out himself.
“Everyone has to be vigilant,” he said.
Dave Lovell, who has property on Banting Lake, said he thinks the GNWT should have been more proactive about inspecting the site, which he said was not far from a cabin.
“When it's that close … I think they have some responsibility,” said Lovell. “I realize they don't have crews, but they can't just shrug their shoulders and say, 'Same time next year.'”
The fire at Banting Lake is believed to be person-caused, stated Curtis.