NWT Fire says crews attended five separate campsites over the holiday weekend at which fires had been abandoned without being put out.
The Victoria Day weekend brought relatively warm weather to many parts of the territory – camping weather but also temperatures that bring an increasing risk of wildfires.
“Between Sunday and Monday, fire crews discovered four campfires that had to be put out,” NWT Fire stated on Facebook on Monday evening.
“In Fort Smith, three fires were left smouldering in pits at Queen Elizabeth Territorial Park, while crews discovered an abandoned campfire on the beach in Norman Wells on Sunday afternoon.”
Earlier, an abandoned campfire had been found along the Cameron River near Yellowknife.
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NWT Fire was already working on an investigation of another fire that briefly triggered an evacuation alert in Fort Smith earlier this month. The wildfire agency has appealed for people with information about that fire to come forward.
All of the long weekend’s abandoned fire were safely extinguished.
“With dry and warm temperatures around each region, it could have easily gotten out of control,” NWT Fire stated.
“We cannot stress enough how important it is to ensure your campfires are entirely out before leaving the site.”
