Vee Lake fire under control, likely caused by bear bangers

A wildfire off of the the Vee Lake access road near Yellowknife is now under control.

A spokesperson from the territory’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources said the department believes the fire was started when a bear banger was set off, though they are continuing to investigate.

Anyone with information on how the fire, which started 10km outside of Yellowknife on July 5, is asked to contact NWT Fire at (867) 445-3209.

Named ZF0029, the fire was discovered on Tuesday evening. By Wednesday morning, it was deemed “under control.”

While the fire is not extinguished, the government does not expect the fire to grow and has fire crews continuing to monitor it.

As of 7pm on Tuesday evening, fire ZF0029 was still under one hectare in size.

The fire is 400 metres from the Vee Lake road, approximately four kilometres from the Ingraham Trail turnoff. The Vee Lake road is not impacted.

“This is exactly the kind of fire we really need to avoid over these severe weather conditions,” said the spokesperson, noting the fire could have threatened cabins and recreational assets in the area.