Rain does little to dampen N.W.T. wildfires

Cool, wet weather over the Northwest Territories this past week did little to dampen forest fires.

The territory sawonly 5 mmof rain, which territorial duty officer Mike Gravel said isnot enough.

"Really all that shower did is help us catch up with the fires that we're working on, but one or two days of this warm, windy weather, and that rain is pretty much like it never even happened in our business," he said.

"So we really need a heavy, deep rain, an inch of rain if you will, to make any kind of difference."

2 new fires

Crews are currently managing three active fires in the southern part of the territory.

Gravel said a controlled burn south of the community ofBehchoko, N.W.T. has taken away the fuel between a fire and Highway 3. Officials hope that will keep the highway open throughout the summer.

Crews are also putting fire guards near a blaze in the South Slave region to keep it away from cabins in the areaand working on a fire between theKakisa and Jean Marie River areas.

With more lightening in the forecast, Gravel urgedpeople to be fire smart this weekend.

Near Fort Smith, two new lightning-caused firesflared up since Thursday.

So far this season, 54 fires have burned more than 95,000 hectares of woodland in the N.W.T. with nearly 40 still burning as of Saturday.