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Tuesday June 16 2015 7 ENVIRONMENT WILDFIRES INTERIOR HEAVY EQUIPMENT Operator School www.IHESCHOOL.com Call Now 1-866-399-3853 Housing Transportation Packages Available NO SIMULATORS JOB ASSISTANCE FOR LIFE NEVER SHARE MACHINES START ANY MONDAY GET TRAINED. GET WORKING. CALL FOR APPLICATIONS 684-112 NNSL NJ NGO Stabilization Fund The new 2015-2016 application deadline is Thursday June 25 2015. The NGO Stabilization Fund provides special funding to help NGOs that deliver critical GNWT funded programs or services to the public to stabilize or develop their capacity to manage programs and services. Support can be granted for eligible one-time general management governance organizational development and extraordinary general operations costs related to the delivery of critical GNWT funded programs or services. Collaborative projects that build the capacity of more than one NGO are encouraged. For more information and to obtain an application form please go to www.maca.gov.nt.cangostabilization Phone 867 873-7329 Fax 867 920-6467 E-mail dawn_mosesgov.nt.ca Wildfires dampened as north winds bring rain lightning E astern part of South Sl av e remai ns dry at hi gh ri sk l ev el s B y D O N JAQ U E Storms pushed down the Mackenzie Valley late last week and over the weekend bring- ing cool temperatures strong north winds and scattered showers in a broad band from Inuvik all the way to Fort Smith helping to bring relief from wildfires though the total number still grew to 65 . With the storms came lightning and lots of it with over 3 0 0 0 0 strikes Thursday and 28 0 0 0 in a 24-hour period on Friday. Fortunately few of the strikes caused fires. The rains and cool weather and the result- ing higher relative humidity pushed down the fires according to officials but there was only enough moisture to penetrate the surface and bring short-term relief. It is still really dry and the water tables are low. We need a steady two or three-day rain to penetrate into the heavier fuels said Rick Olsen manager of fire operations with Environment and Natural Resources. Drought conditions are in ex cess of last year. We are just now entering what is usu- ally our regular fire season. The 20-year average for fires by this time of year is 20 and we are now at 65 . We are just getting going he said. O f the major fires burning across the NWT none are a serious threat at this point O lsen said. A fire near Aklavik is burning tundra in the foothills of the Richardson Mountains. O lsen described it as mostly a very large grass fire. He said it keeps running into wet areas and therefore is mostly burn- ing itself out. It is still moving but rain and morning fog are dampening it. The big fires south of Behchoko pushed by high winds jumped the containment lines over the weekend but crews got on it and managed to bring it back under control again. The fire near Wrigley was impacted by rain and high winds but is still under con- trol. Crews got back on it yesterday and it is now down to 25 hectares in size. The one fire that continues to be somewhat problematic is the ittle Buffalo River fire west of Fort Smith which flared up thanks to the wind over the weekend. It is largely in Wood Buffalo National Park along the southern edge of the whooping crane habitat with a small finger in the NWT along High- way 5. t is being fought by both Parks and NWT crews with lots of resources deployed including bucketing helicopters and cater- pillar tractors making cat guards. O lsen said there were a number of new fires in the Y ellowknife area over the week- end including one person-caused incident from a campfire on an island in the mid- dle of Kam Lake. It was left to burn out. There were also two new fires southwest of Y ellowknife in the bison sanctuary near onely Bay on reat Slave ake. They are being left to burn since fire will improve the bison habitat. There are also several new fires northeast of Fort Smith and Fort Resolution one at Thekulthili Lake one at Tsu Lake and an- other at rey ake all with nearby cabins camps or lodges which are being protected. O lsen said conditions near Y ellowknife are dry but that area is now getting rain. The rest of the NWT is similarly enjoying moisture that has lowered hazard levels up the Mackenzie Valley to Inuvik. The one re- gion still lacking moisture is between Fort Resolution and Fort Smith where it remains quite dry and high in fire risk. The weather forecast for the coming week is good news with a continued northerly wind flow but a change to lighter winds will bring some rain and minimal lightning and later in the week temperatures will rise to seasonal norms in the mid-20 s. Fire crews perform a controlled burnout operation near Highway 3 south of Behchoko on May 29. The fire umped its containment lines ov er the weekend due to high winds b ut crews managed to b ring it under control once more. PhotocourtesyofGNWTENR