An evacuation alert has been issued to residents of Little Salmon Lake.
Residents may be asked to leave their homes on short notice if fires, that are currently licking forested land 40 kilometres away, move any closer.
“It’s a preparedness measure to track how many people are in that area,” said George Maratos of Yukon Wildland Fire Management.
Stations have been set up along the Robert Campbell Highway close to Little Salmon Lake so that residents can stop and check in with officials from Wildland Fire Management.
“It’s a way for people to say, ‘This is my phone number and I’m aware of the situation,’” said Maratos.
Although people should be on alert, they shouldn’t feel too anxious, he said.
“It’s not an order to evacuate,” added Maratos. “We don’t want to impose stress; it’s to ease stress on residents.”
Yesterday 28 firefighters from the Northwest Territories arrived in the Yukon, putting the total count of firefighters battling territorial blazes at more than 150, said Maratos.
As of yesterday there were 107 active fires burning in the territory. (Vivian Belik)