Wildfire now 20km from Yellowknife, risk ‘has risen’ over last day

A wildfire burning northwest of Yellowknife is now about 20 kilometres from the city, officials said on Tuesday morning. That means it's moved about 10 kilometres closer to the capital since a day earlier.

"The fire is not expected to reach Yellowknife in the coming days, however, risk to the city and Ndilǫ has risen since yesterday," reads an update from N.W.T. Fire at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Firefighters were also expecting "significant fire behaviour" on Tuesday, with winds out of the north and northwest expected to push the fire further south and east. Smoke and falling ash was likely in Yellowknife, Ndilǫ and Dettah on Tuesday, the update reads.

Weather conditions could become more favourable on Wednesday, officials say. There's a chance of showers forecast then, and more showers expected on Thursday. Winds are also expected to shift on Thursday, "which should slow progression towards Yellowknife."

The Behchoko-Yellowknife fire was 136,109 hectares as of Tuesday morning. After the fire breached control lines to the southwest toward Boundary Creek, N.W.T. Fire said Monday morning the breach was "significant" and their top priority was to contain it.

On Monday, the City of Yellowknife declared a local state of emergency. City staff said the declaration would allow the city to use local contractors to help protect the city by helping build fire breaks.

The city is not under an evacuation alert or order.

Meantime, an evacuation order issued earlier for property owners along the Ingraham Trail east of Yellowknife has now been downgraded to an evacuation alert. Officials said they had seen "less progression than was possible" on the 40,723-hectare fire.

The evacuation alert covers the area including north Propserous Lake, north Prelude Lake and all of River Lake. Officials said downgrading the evacuation order "for now" will allow property owner to return and run their sprinklers. They advised, however, that things may change quickly.