Extreme wildfire activity in N.W.T. blankets much of the territory in smoke on Sunday
Much of the North Slave, South Slave, and Dehcho regions under air quality advisory
Extreme fire activity in the N.W.T. this weekend caused by high winds and hot, dry weather left much of the territory blanketed in thick wildfire smoke on Sunday — and its not expected to let up anytime soon.
Environment Canada issued air quality advisories on Sunday for 15 Northwest Territories communities, including most of the North Slave, South Slave and Dehcho regions, and some Sahtu communities.
On Sunday afternoon, N.W.T. Fire said that the next couple of days will likely bring the "most severe" fire weather of the summer so far, and that smoky conditions are expected to persist for several days.
In Yellowknife, the Environment Canada Air quality index was at "very high risk" on Sunday.
On Highway 3, the road between Yellowknife and Fort Providence, drivers reported orange skies and low visibility.
The thick smoke in these areas is mostly coming from fires around Kakisa, according to N.W.T. Fire information officer Amy Kennedy.
The most concerning fire in the area is SS048, according to N.W.T. Fire.
It's located about 34 kilometres west of Kakisa on west side of Kakisa Lake and 40 kilometres south of Fort Providence.
It was last measured at over 5000 hectares in size.
"This fire has the potential to approach and threaten Kakisa and Fort Providence," N.W.T. Fire said in a 3:45 p.m. update to its website.
"Weather conditions on Sunday and Monday are forecast to support extreme fire activity – building off the extreme fire behaviour on Friday and Saturday," the update said.
"Crews are focused on community protection efforts and setting up sprinklers around critical infrastructure. Resources have been shifted from other priorities to this wildfire to assist in the effort."
On Saturday, N.W.T. Fire warned of "extreme fire danger" across the territory this weekend.
In an update Saturday afternoon, N.W.T. Fire said that crews would be focusing their energy on fires around the communities of Kakisa, Wrigley, Wekweètì, and Deline.
Residents of those communities were asked not to use ATVs or boats over the weekend because wildfire smoke was causing dangerously low visibility.
A portion of Highway 1 was also closed on Saturday for several hours because of extremely poor visibility caused by wildfire smoke.