May forest fire ratings about normal for Yukon, but conditions can change quickly

Natural Resources Canada has published its annual wildland fire forecast for the country. The forecasted fire severity rating for May in Yukon shows predominantly high conditions across Yukon, with things ramping up a notch through June before they return to normal by August.

Richard Carr, a fire research analyst with the Northern Forestry Centre in Edmonton, said the May forecast is normal for the region, but daily fire danger ratings can fluctuate widely. For example, the fire danger rating for May 16 showed extreme conditions acrossa wide swathe of central Yukon.

"If you have a naturally warm and dry and windy day you'll get a high level [fire danger] reading," Carr said. "Humidity or a bit of rain overnight will dropthe danger down."

As for overall conditions, Carr said a weak El Nino this winter and an early spring snow melt have left much of western Canada a little dry.

"We had fairly dry conditions right along the 60th parallel down through B.C. and through the southern prairies last fall and a lot of those areas we didn't get enough rendered precipitation to really knock the drought levels back," Carr said.

Basically, the Yukon could use some rain.

"A lot of the snow cover disappeared very rapidly and from what I understand in parts of the Yukon it probably melted two to four weeks earlier than normal this year. That March heatwave was quite astounding and carried record highs right up to the Arctic coast in the Northwest Territories as well.

"So when the snow melts that quickly then of course it sets the stage for possible early forest fire activity."

But there's no fire without a fire starter Carr said about half of all forest fires are human caused. Extra caution is necessary during periods of high or extreme fire danger. Fire danger ratings are often posted along highways and near parks. Daily fire danger conditions are also available on the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System website.

'Fire prone country'

"Another thing to note is that ... we are a fairly fire prone country and nationally we burn about 2.5 million hectares per year," Carr said. "So in even a normal year we tend to have a lot of fire activity on the landscape.

"Even in regions where we predict below normal fire activity or normal fire activity there's still the possibility of having a serious fire that has a big impact on people."

Carr said that despite the negative impact of forest fires for residents, they play a necessary role in forest ecology.

"They help to regenerate forests," Carr said. "A lot of the pines actually depend on the heat to burst open their cones. You have wildlife depending on fire ... clearing out spots and providing better grazing.

"There's definitely a lot of natural benefits to it."