'Normal' fire activity for now, says N.W.T. Fire, but danger could ramp up in July

The Northwest Territories could see a lot of fire activity later this summer.

On Monday afternoon, N.W.T. Fire briefed reporters on the forecast for the coming fire season. 

Richard Olsen, the manager of fire operations for the territorial government, said fire behaviour modelling from Natural Resources Canada shows "normal" fire activity is anticipated in the territory until the end of June —  but things could ramp up after that.

"As we do get into July and August, we are expected to see potentially an above-average type of conditions," he told reporters. In some parts of the territory, modelling shows fire risk could be "well above average," he added.

Drought conditions continue

Olsen said when you look at the relative moisture of soil here, a large part of the N.W.T. is still experiencing "severe drought" compared to the rest of Canada.

Going into last winter, the Dehcho region, the regions south and west of Great Slave Lake, and the southern Sahtu were all experiencing drought, and there wasn't enough precipitation this winter to change that.

"In large portions of the N.W.T., we are starting to get into normal or slightly below normal snowfalls," he said.

"But generally nothing that's seen as a significant dump of snow that really looked to make a large change and impact on the forest floor … in terms of how deep and severe some of these fires might burn."

Because of this, Olsen said, they are anticipating that they are starting the fire season with drought conditions around Great Slave Lake, the Dehcho and the southern Sahtu region.

Olsen said the territory is also expected to see above-average temperatures this summer in June, July and August — another factor that would support fire growth.

N.W.T. Fire preparing for fires

Olsen said despite the tough fire conditions, he is feeling good about the upcoming fire season.

Olsen said the territory has brought on additional helicopters and tankers to fight fires this year, thanks to funding from the federal government. 

They are currently planning to have 34 fire crews in total this summer, all with either four or five people. He said all but a couple of those crews have finished their training, and tankers and helicopters will start to join the firefighting teams gradually throughout the month.

Olsen said N.W.T. Fire has begun implementing recommendations that came out of the review of the 2023 fire season and after-action reviews looking at specific fires, especially around communication and co-ordination with communities.

He said crews in the Dehcho and South Slave are fully operational, and N.W.T. Fire is flying over overwintering fires to identify and action hotspots. 

"I'm hearing good morale, I'm hearing a lot of good things about the training … lots of positive feedback at my level," he said.