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NWT Fire says two structures have been destroyed by a wildfire that originated in Alberta and is now burning near Schaefer Lake, 28 km east of Fort Smith.
“Despite the best efforts by wildland firefighters, two structures were lost at separate locations due to extreme fire activity,” the territory’s wildfire agency stated on Sunday afternoon.
In one location, where sprinklers had been deployed, some cabins survived but one burned.
In a second location, NWT Fire reported “complete structure loss” as poor visibility and activity from fire SS009 meant crews could not set up protective measures.
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The losses took place on Saturday and the owners of both cabin sites have been notified, the agency stated. Precise locations were not given.
Alberta and NWT crews, operating under unified command, are “gathering more resources to manage the fire and deploy structural protection as the fire is seeing an increase in activity.”
“Structure protection operations were able to save numerous other structures throughout the weekend,” NWT Fire added.
Elsewhere in the South Slave, a fire 24 km northwest of Fort Smith grew to 325 hectares but moved no closer to Salt River or Fort Smith. A fire 13 km west of Highway 1 in the Cameron Hills is now more than 11,000 hectares in size but isn’t threatening anything.
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In the Dehcho, the fire 30 km southwest of Sambaa K’e – FS002 – has grown to 500 hectares and remains out of control but isn’t threatening the community. Crews are placing sprinklers on cabins that could be in danger.
A new lightning-caused fire, FS005, has developed 27 km southwest of Fort Simpson on the west side of the Martin River.
“Aircraft and crews have begun their initial attack. There is no risk to cabins, infrastructure or communities at this time,” NWT Fire reported.
Fire danger remained high throughout much of the territory across the weekend, with windy conditions again presenting themselves in the South Slave, Dehcho and around Great Slave Lake.
Residents of Fort Smith, Hay River and Fort Resolution lost power just before 4pm on Sunday “due to high winds in the Fort Smith area,” the NWT Power Corporation stated on Facebook.
NTPC later said power was restored at 5:14pm.
