Fire crews were deployed Tuesday night to address a newly-discovered wildfire just north of Yellowknife, according to the GNWT’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR).
ENR spokesperson Mike Westwick confirmed late on Tuesday that a new wildfire, labeled ZF0029-22, had been discovered earlier that evening about 10 kilometres north of the airport, and less than half a kilometre from Vee Lake Road.
Although there is human infrastructure close to the fire — including cabins, the Vee Lake boat launch and the Ranney Hill hiking trail — Westwick said the blaze does not pose a risk to any nearby communities.
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear, and remained under investigation as of Tuesday evening.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there were 59 active fires in the territory, out of a total of 90 so far this year. Six of those fires started within 24 hours of when ENR published its July 6 afternoon report. There are 14 active fires in the North Slave Region, and the danger level remains “extreme” for the foreseeable future in every community in the region except Lutsel K’e, where the danger is “extreme” on July 7 and expected to drop to “medium” for the following two days.