4 days ago
2 cabins burned in wildfire near Fort Smith
Two cabins near Fort Smith, N.W.T., have burned in a wildfire that originated in Alberta, according to a news release Sunday from N.W.T. Fire.
One was lost despite crews setting up sprinklers to protect structures in the area. Crews weren't able to do structure protection work for the second cabin due to poor visibility.
The two cabins were in different areas, though N.W.T. Fire didn't specify where they were. N.W.T. Fire said they have notified the owners.
"It is always unfortunate when structures are lost," wildfire information officer Thomas Bentham said in the wildfire update Sunday. "These threats are a reality in wildland areas."
Bentham wrote that structure protection work saved several other cabins over the weekend.
The fire covers about 65 square kilometres and is about 28 kilometres east of Fort Smith in the Schaefer Lake area.
There were two other fires burning in the South Slave as of Sunday afternoon's update — one about 24 kilometres from Fort Smith along the Slave River, and one by Cameron Hills, about 13 kilometres west of Hwy 1.
Five fires were burning in the Dehcho —one about 30 kilometres southwest of Sambaa K'e, one 74 kilometres from Fort Liard and one fire about 27 kilometres southwest of Fort Simpson. Bentham said those fires don't pose a risk to the communities. Two other fires burn just north of the B.C. border.
