Jean Marie River evacuates voluntarily as fire approaches

People in Jean Marie River, N.W.T., began a voluntary evacuation Tuesday as a forest fire raged right up to the opposite bankof the Mackenzie River and another threatened the community's road.

Chief StanSanguez.says residents grew concerned a windblown spark could ignite a fire in the community as smoke grew thick, and that thefire near the road wouldthreaten theirabilityto drive out.

"People were just freaking out," saysChief StanSanguez.

Sanguezsays he called on theGNWTand the RCMP to start moving people out Tuesdayafternoon.

The community has a population of about 70. More than 50 people fled the community and are now in Fort Simpson. Sanguez says afew chose to stay behind.

Today the winds have changed, blowing the fire away from the community.Sanguezsays five firefighters are on standby with water pumps in case a spark blows in.

"Right now the fire is smouldering right near the riverbank, the worst is over," he says.

The area got a bit of rain yesterday but it wasn't enough.Lightning strikes started twonew fires in theDehchoand today there are 21 fires burning in the region.

Highway 3 convoys Wednesday

In the North Slave region, highway crews near Fort Providence and Behchoko began running convoys for trucks and other vehicles along Highway 3 Wednesday but the road closed again at 2 p.m.

Officials have been saying this is the worst fire season they've seen in decades.So far, fires have scorched more than 10,000 kilometres square, which isless than one per cent of the territory's land mass butalmost twice the area of Prince Edward Island.

This season, 284 fires have burned.Last year there were 219. In 1998, one of the worst seasons ever, there were399 fires reported.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources says more than 400 firepersonnelare spread out across the territory fighting the blazes. Half of these are arefrom other provinces.They work up to 12 hours a day for two weeks straight.

The Minister ofENR says so far the territory has spent $27 million battling the blazes.

On average, wildfires cost the territory about $8.5 million a year, meaning the territory will spend at least $18 millionmore than average. ENR says the season runs until the end of September, so it's not over yet.