Wildland Fire Management
Wildland Fire Management Watson Lake Fire Center
The Watson Lake Fire Centre is a key regional hub for managing wildland fires in southeastern Yukon. This centre is part of the broader Yukon Wildland Fire Management network and is dedicated to protecting lives, property, and natural resources through strategic fire prevention, monitoring, and suppression efforts.
Wildland Fire Management's Regional Protection Manager's November 19, 2024 Council Meeting Presentation
The Watson Lake 3-Year Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) is a collaborative effort by the Town of Watson Lake, Liard First Nation, and the Yukon Government to reduce wildfire risk from 2025 to 2028. Focused on vegetation management, it proposes strategic fuelbreaks and expanded FireSmart activities to protect the community and surrounding areas from wildland fire. While not a complete wildfire hazard plan, it addresses immediate threats and lays the groundwork for future, more comprehensive planning. Key actions include removing or reducing fuels, stand conversion to fire-resilient species, prescribed burning, and public education, all guided by wildfire behavior analysis and local environmental considerations.
Contact the Watson Lake Wildland Fire Management fire base:
Office: (867)-536-2005
Address: 310 Airport Road,
Watson Lake, YT,
Y0A 1C0
Resources from Wildland Fire Management
Wildfire Information
1. FireSmart Canada (https://firesmartcanada.ca) - Contains a wealth of information on pretecting your home from wildfire impacts. They also offer funding streams, training and support for neighborhoods and communities to help spread awareness and to protect themselves from wildfire.
2. Yukon Wildfires (https://wildfires.service.yukon.ca) - is the Territory's wildfire situation webpage. Accessing this webpage provides you information on wildfires in the Yukon, fire bans and good materials as to how Wildland Fire Management manages Fires.
3. British Columbia Wildfire Service (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status) - is British Columbia's wildfire situation page.
Models, Simulation and Education
4. Firesmoke (https://firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current) - contains a model representation of where smoke from wildfires are expected to move (please keep in mind that this is a model designed to simulate situations and will not always be accurate). Other than using this for educational purposes, it also gives a good general idea of where fires are, where smoke is coming from and where it's moving to.
5. NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS)(https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:today;@-127.3,60.5,7.6z) - is a webpage developed by NASA that shows near-real-time heat signatures on the surface of the earth. This website is used to monitor fire movements but is not always accurate