Wildfires are burning across the Yukon as lightning strikes the region and a heat wave continues, a fire intelligence officer says. Mike Fancie of Yukon Wildland Fire Management says about 20 fires a day have been ignited since the long weekend, bringing the total this year to 155 wildfires that have burned 45,000 hectares. Fancy described the percentage of fires caused by lightning as “extremely high” at 97 percent, compared to about 70 percent in a typical year with the rest caused by humans. On Monday alone, there were more than 3,000 lightning strikes, 484 of which were positive for an increased fire risk, he said. “The sheer volume of lightning activity and new fires over the last few days has completely wiped out that statistic,” he said. “The Yukon is experiencing unprecedented levels of lightning-triggered fire activity right now.” The fires come as Environment Canada has issued a heat warning for much of the territory, while both wildfires and flooding have prompted evacuation warnings in several areas. Many highway closures also affect transportation and access to communities. The Yukon Emergency Management Agency issued a new evacuation warning for Silver Trail and surrounding areas on Tuesday. The Lake Ethel campground was evacuated Saturday. Of particular concern is the Crystal Lake fire in central Yukon, which has grown to 2,500 hectares and prompted an evacuation alert Sunday for Stewart Crossing about 15 kilometers away. The fire also forced the closure of part of the Klondike Highway, a major transportation link between Whitehorse, Dawson and Mayo. Meanwhile, flood warnings have been in effect since last week for areas around Lake Teslin and the Yukon River near Carmacks. Many of the challenges are caused by a so-called Rex block weather system, which occurs when a high-pressure system sits on top of a low-pressure system and brings isolated thunderstorms, Fancie said. “Why these are bad for us is that they are very stable weather patterns. So when the ridge of high pressure sits over us like that, it always means we can expect this weather for a long time and it does,” he said. Forecasters are predicting a drop in temperatures on Friday and Saturday, but it’s too early to count on that, he said. Yukon has already requested additional support through mutual aid agreements from British Columbia. There were 104 active fires on Tuesday, compared to 36 on the same date last year. The total area burned by Tuesday morning was 42,979 hectares compared to 27,492 in 2021, he said. Environment Canada also issued a heat warning Tuesday for much of the territory, urging residents to drink plenty of water and seek cool places. Temperatures were expected to reach 28C with overnight lows of 13C. The warning was in effect for Whitehorse, Old Crow, Dawson and other areas throughout the central, southern and western parts of the state. It comes after daily temperature records were set on Monday in Haines Junction, Carmacks and Teslin, with the heat hovering around 30C.
