Norma Meese, 76, lives with her husband in Stewart River, about 8 miles outside Mayo. He said there is so much smoke, “we can’t even see across the river now.” Mayo is one of several communities for which the local government has issued evacuation notices as 161 fires, as of Friday, are burning in the Yukon. The other communities include Elsa, Keno, Moose Lodge Creek, Victoria Gold Mine as well as Stewart Crossing and surrounding areas. If an evacuation order is issued, the government said residents should be ready to leave within two hours of the notification. But Meese said if that happens, she and her husband aren’t leaving their home. “We told the [government officials] that we’re not going anywhere because there’s nowhere to go,” he said. “They don’t tell you where to go or have no idea where to go.” The North Klondike Highway from Stewart Crossing to Pelly Crossing, which is south of Mayo, has been closed due to “unpredictable, dangerous fire behavior” since Friday night, according to the Yukon government. “The only other way is to Dawson City,” Miss said. “And there’s nothing out there. Where do you have to go?”
“The situation is a bit hairy”
Meanwhile, Carole Kroening, who with her husband owns and operates Stepping Stone, a Yukon Quest guest stop near Fort Selkirk where the Yukon and Pelly rivers meet, said they are ready to leave immediately. “We all have a bag waiting on the foredeck and we can be on the boats in five minutes,” he said. The fires are burning about 15 minutes away from Stepping Stone, a Yukon Quest host stop near Fort Selkirk. (Submitted by Carole Kroening) Kroening added that the fire started on Monday and is slowly moving towards them. “The situation is a bit hairy,” he said. “If we went for an afternoon hike, it would take us about 15 minutes to get [to the fire].” Fires burn along the Pelly River from Stepping Stone, a Yukon Quest host stop near Fort Selkirk, Yukon. (Submitted by Carole Kroening) She said on Tuesday, wildland fire officials gave her tips on how to smart fire her property as well as other buildings in the community. He has created as many sprinklers as he can. He said that in 2006, there was a forest fire that stopped about a kilometer away from the community, but this one is scarier because “we can see it so well.”
“It’s just a scary situation”
Just outside Stewart Crossing, Elizabeth Blair is also ready to leave at a moment’s notice if needed. “We have a truck out there that’s full of stuff if we need to, all of a sudden, leave,” he said. “It’s just a scary situation because you can’t predict anything with fire. If we got a big wind, it could just be headed there.” He said he has installed a water pump and a well that has a long pipe, but on Thursday he wanted to install a sprinkler system as well. The Frances Lake Fire is burning along the Robert Campbell Highway, which is closed between Watson Lake and the Ross River. (Government of Yukon) She got phone calls but said no one seemed to be able to help, so she posted a message on Facebook asking for help. “And within an hour, the [wildland fire] team from BC they were here and made things up with what was left. So it was enough for us to have some sprinklers up,” he said. Blair is very grateful for the help. He said he expects the current fire situation in the Yukon to be the new normal and hopes officials with the territory and First Nation governments will be better organized going forward than they appear to be this year. “Hopefully there will be a whole series of, you know, just instructions where a person could call someone … who knows what to do to evacuate or whatever,” he said.
“They are worried”
Mayo-Tatchun MLA Jeremy Harper, who grew up in Pelly Crossing, was out in the community this past week helping to get information out to his constituents. He said he gets a lot of calls from them. “They’re worried,” he said. “The fire is close to their residences and we want to make sure that they have adequate sprinklers or that they have a crew to help them cut a firebreak around their home to make sure that their property or their cabin or their hunting cabin it’s protected for them,” he said. He added that the community has “adequate” supplies now that the 100-person crew from British Columbia helping to fight the fires in the region has set up camp at Pelly Crossing Airport. He said the BC crew will be dispatched to different locations to install sprinkler systems or eaves around certain properties. Harper said he is staying in touch with First Nations elders and leadership to make sure they have all the information they need from emergency officials. “Our leadership is passing on a lot of good information to the citizens so that they are always informed,” he said.
