Yukon 2004 Fire Season Impacts on Communities and Stakeholders

As a result of a persistent high pressure feature the 2004 fire season in the Yukon Territory witnessed a number of long standing weather records surpassed in terms of maximum daily temperatures, four consecutive months (May – August) of above average temperatures and below average precipitation, consecutive days of temperatures greater than 30o C, plus record lightning activity. The interaction of this extensive period of hot and dry weather, record lightning and an abundance of high hazard conifer forest fuels produced a record number of ignitions and corresponding area burned.

In spite of the 1.7 million hectares of forest renewing wildand fire there were relatively few real fire losses. Nonetheless, the 2004 fire season had great impact upon all of the Yukon's communities, the public, and its stakeholders. While no community was ever imminently threatened by destruction from wildfire the by-product of 1.7 million hectares of landscape level fire produced operational impacts, ground transportation delays, aviation impacts, small scale evacuations of remote camps, tourism impacts and the pervasive social stress of living in an active fire environment with the near constant presence of dense smoke.

It was the type of fire season that wildland fire personnel mark their careers by, and against which future fire seasons will be measured.