Helicopter attacks small fire on Yellowknife’s Tin Can Hill

Crews using a helicopter responded to a small fire on Yellowknife’s Tin Can Hill on Saturday afternoon.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear. However, on a city-wide scale, the incident appeared minor with no ongoing threat to residents.

Video footage showed what looked to be a small fire in Tin Can Hill’s woods near the city’s water treatment plant.

The City of Yellowknife sent fire trucks and a tanker to the area, but the location of the fire – removed by some distance from the access road to the water treatment plant, where emergency vehicles gathered – made an aerial attack easier.

Residents reported a helicopter swiftly dumping load after load of water from Great Slave Lake onto the fire.

By 5pm, that helicopter attack appeared to have at least temporarily ceased.

There was no immediate suggestion of any property damage, nor any reported injuries.

The hill’s most popular dog-walking trails appeared unaffected. At 5pm, the trails remained busy with no sign of emergency services.

Fire danger in the North Slave is extreme, with a fire ban in effect for Yellowknife and its surrounding parks.

The city is basking in days of hot, dry conditions, with no rain in the forecast.

To the northwest, a separate wildfire has been growing since it began following a lightning strike on Wednesday. On Saturday, that fire – some 40 km away from Yellowknife – had reached more than 1,000 hectares in size but continued to pose no risk to residents.