Massive effort to protect Yellowknife continues as fire looms on horizon

A massive effort to protect Yellowknife, involving city and territorial workers, the military, and an army of local contractors and heavy-equipment operators, could be put to the test in the coming days as a wildfire threatens to reach city limits.

As of Friday afternoon, the fire was still about 15 kilometres northwest of the city, but officials were bracing for wind conditions to change and start again pushing the fire where they don't want it to go: directly toward Yellowknife.

"It's an unbelievable operation at the periphery of Yellowknife, to build that strong defence," fire information officer Mike Westwick said Friday.

Westwick said a network of fuel breaks have been built on the city's west side, along with about 20 kilometres of hose and pipe laid to feed a network of sprinklers and water cannons. Crews have also built another 10-kilometre control line through the bush, and spread fire retardant.

"That's going to achieve a few things. One, of course, any time you do a break in fuel and lay down some fire retardant, it can help slow down the fire," he said.

"It also gives us an opportunity to consider, as conditions are right, using ignition operations to head off this fire toward the east before it hits our city."

Westwick said the control line also gives firefighters a good base of operations.

Chris Greencorn, director of public works and engineering in Yellowknife, said the pump-and-sprinkler system is "likely the largest overland water distribution project Yellowknife has even seen."

"This is all-in-all providing somewhere between 500 and 1,000 gallons per minute, from local water sources," he said. "This is our main line of defence."

Blair Weatherby is a contractor in Yellowknife, and his business, Weatherby Trucking, is based on the city's western edge. His workers and equipment have been busy helping build the firebreaks for the city.

"We got four guys out on the line wherever they're using them, a couple excavators out and dozers and stuff, out doing the circumference around town," he said.

"Everybody's working together unfathomably. It's like, it's amazing."

Weatherby himself was busy near his own property on Friday, working an excavator and clearing trees. He said there are four properties, including the Alliance Church, in the area and they're relatively vulnerable.

"The fire line that the city designed, and forestry, starts at the sand pits and leaves us out here on our own," he said.

"We're right on the city limits. That's why we're kind of on our own, because they gotta protect the city."

Weatherby said he was "fairly confident" that the lines of defence will hold. He said at his own property, he's been preparing for years, by FireSmarting, putting tin roofs on his buildings, and ensuring he's got the equipment to soak things down.

"Well, you do what you do, right? We can't fight the beast, and we're doing what we can to protect what we can," he said.

"If we can mitigate it a bit and not lose everything, that's all we're doing."