Rain pauses growth of Takhini Bridge fire near Whitehorse, but dry spell to resume

Rain on Wednesday helped subdue the Takhini Bridge wildfire burning west of Whitehorse, but the fire remains out of control, according to fire officials.

The area saw about three millimetres of rain on Wednesday, which offered a spell of relief after more than a week of hot, dry conditions. The fire did not grow on Wednesday, but remained roughly 1,402 hectares in size.

Fire officials warned, however, that things could quickly pick up again. The forecast is calling for more hot and dry weather in the days ahead, "which will quickly dry out forest fuels," reads an update from fire officials.

Parts of the Ibex Valley are still under an evacuation alert. The Alaska Highway remains open.

As of Thursday, there were 30firefighters tackling the Takhini Bridge fire, including a 17-person Yukon First Nations Wildfire crew. There are also sevenpieces of heavy equipment and fourhelicopters focused on the blaze.

The reduced intensity of the fire on Wednesday, thanks to the rain, meant crews could work on building guards around the fire's edge. That included hand-burning some forest fuels. There is now a dozer guard on 75 per cent of the fire, officials said.

The damp conditions will allow crews to continue to work in areas closer to the fire on Thursday, according to officials.

Elsewhere in the Yukon, the Reverse Creek fire southwest ofMayo also continues to burn out of control and was an estimated 3,690 hectares as of Thursday morning. Officials say they're providing a "monitored response" to the fire, and an evacuation alert remains in place for properties between kilometres 10 and 35 of the Silver Trail.

Another significant fire is burning out of control southeast of Carmacks. The 8,700-hectare Illusion Creek fire is in a wilderness fire management zone. Officials said Wednesday that the fire was not growing in size, but smoke was drifting over the Robert Campbell Highway and the Faro area. They are providing a monitored response to that fire, as well.

As of Thursday, there were 19 active wildfires in the Yukon. A level-2 fire ban remains in place across the territory, meaning onlycooking and warming fires are allowed in fire pits and stoves at road-accessible territorial and commercial campgrounds.