Wildfire 'unlikely' to reach Sambaa K'e, N.W.T., in next 24 hours

A day of rain haskept the raging wildfire near Sambaa K'e, N.W.T., to about 10 kilometres from the community, and favourable winds are in the forecast today.

"We expect the fire's growth to be focused towards the south and east, which is better news than we've had for the past number of days there," said Mike Westwick, fire information officer for the N.W.T. government.

The community of fewerthan 100 evacuated last week, mostly to Fort Simpson. The fire's total burn area covers about 250,000 hectares in the N.W.T.

Westwick says hot, dry weather will return later this week, along with north-pushing winds.

"So it's still a very challenging situation, but for now the the fire is not likely to reach the community in the next 24 hours," he said.

If the fire ever did make it to the community, "it's not a hope lost type situation," said Westwick as crews have been busy setting up sprinkler systems throughout Sambaa K'e.

"Structure protection work is successful in many cases," he said, but is not a failsafe.

An N.W.T. Fire update Tuesday evening saidcrews have installed sprinklers on "all critical infrastructure and buildings on the periphery of Sambaa K'e."

Crews are now working to expand the protection area at Island Lake.

The update adds that 48 people are working on the fire, ranging from an incident management team and firefighters, to heavy equipment operators and air tankers, among others.