We have had an incredibly rough start to our fishing season this year. We were just getting set up when a pilot spotted a small fire about 2-miles from our upper lake lodge. We hadn't even been up there at that point so it was a good thing he spotted it. We called it in and Wild Land fires sent in a crew to put sprinklers up on our buildings. At that point the fire was 15 miles from our main lodge so we were not to concerned and neither was the fire crew. Big mistake.

I went up with my jet boat to meet the fire fighters and see the fire for myself that first day. About 3 that afternoon the fire exploded and headed east. Our main lodge was south so everything was still in our favour. I left my son on the upper lake and came home late that afternoon. The river was burning pretty good when I came through but it still had a long ways to go before it got anywhere near our main lodge.

At 9 pm that night we started to get ash coming down like snow on our main lodge. By 10-PM we could hear the fire and I knew we were in trouble. I made a quick call to Wild Land fire and was told to evacuate. That call didnt go to well.

I started pulling hose to the north side of camp and getting things wet. Fire crews landed early the next morning and the next three days were some of the toughest Ive ever been through. We were forced to pull out onto the lake twice after the crews had to evacuate because the helicopters were in danger of being grounded. When the fire came over the hill at us it was something to see. The Wild Land fire crews are rock stars. The incident commander was a young guy out of Whitehorse, and he is a real pro. He ended up back burning the hill behind camp and that really knocked the fire down. During the height of all this we had three choppers, a bomber with a bird dog circling overhead, and 24 men on the ground. They brought in crews from BC, and even Old Crow. The resources they threw at this fire was amazing. The strange thing was the behaviour of the fire. Normally fires lay down in the evening....this one would come alive about 5 pm and rage until midnight. That first night it ran over 10 miles. The crew told us they very rarely ever see that kind of a run at night.

Currently the fire is about 13000 hectares and they expect it will hit 100,000 before the summer is over. We still have crews onsite.

As if that wasn't bad enough, yesterday afternoon a young black bear made a run at 6 fire fighters not 200 meters from camp. I took the bear dogs out and ran it 400 meters into the black, but it decided to come back so we killed it. It was exhibiting classic predatory behaviour. Here are some pictures....hope everyone else is having a better spring!

Some big flames there. Be safe buddy. Hope everything works out in your favour.

Thanks Ryan. You know Moses from Old Crow ? He brought a crew down. Real good bunch of guys. He showed me some videos of his caribou hunt this spring.

Terrible....

I dont think of more northern regions as being dry enough to have such a fire season .

I dread fire season , and always hope for cooler temps and rain every July/August.

Know too well the sight of flames cresting the nearest mountain ...lighting up the night sky.

Fire fighters , chopper and plane pilots are worth their weight in gold.

Be safe, all my best .

Great that your lodge was saved Yukon.

"Karellian Counselling" for that black bear!

Stay safe. Living on a lakeshore means having a good sprinkler system/pumps ready and you can tough out most fires.

Pete

Those are some intense pics, glad your place was spared!

A little too close for comfort. I'm glad it worked out for you Dave. Hope you have a stellar season to make up for the rough start.

Stay safe; that fire looks pretty creepy!

Any updates hope all is going well.

Instead of wasting all that money fighting fires which are not going to be contained, it would be better if Whitehorse had Ottawa, invest in a jobs program of cutting trees for a lumber mill, to sell it to China. Then the firemen could do controlled burns and reforest the acreage, along with food plots of berries and clovers. What is taking place now is nature consuming fuel, and while it takes longer with nature, the berries and browse will appear.
The best burns in California made great quail habitat. The McVeigh burn in the Black Hills back in the 1930's is still one of the best areas for hunting there.

I would that Canada would have a policy of better forestry programs as it is getting worse here every year in summer, in the smoke from Alberta forest fires here, and that is a thousand miles away. There is too much mismanagement on both sides of the border.

Millions of acres of pulpwood and lumber that is available that cannot be allocated-no takers.Lumber mills and pulp mills closing down.Have been for quite a few years.

We are to far from any markets for lumber mills. Its been tried many times and always fails. Our Wild Land Fire crews dont fight forest fires unless they are threatening private property, highways or even trappers cabins. Its a good policy. Natural fires are great for wildlife, and the forest. Much better than clearcutting. We got some good rain and the fire here is pretty much out. It burned all around us so we are safe from wildfires for my lifetime, and probably my grandkids as well.

X3 on that!!! That would have been a terrible game changer for you!
wow that bear wanted to feed before the fire came....are the younger ones usually the hardest to figure out?

That's good to hear and very well may have some good hunting in a year or 2