Yukon’s legal wildfire season starts on Monday, April 1. Whether there is snow on the ground or not, people who plan to burn brush have extra responsibilities each year between April 1 and September 30.
If you burned any brush last fall, check the area for any trace of heat that might have survived beneath the snow. Checking your old piles reduces the chance that residual heat could warm up, ignite dry ground litter and become a wildfire.
People who live inside Whitehorse, Dawson or Watson Lake city limits need to follow their municipal government’s burning rules. If you live outside of these areas, you need to call your local Yukon government wildland fire office for permission to burn. You do not need a paper burn permit anymore.
Permission to burn is only given during days where the fire danger is low, and can be taken away at any time. You need to supervise any burning you do and have the tools on hand to put it out. You can find your local fire centre’s phone number on Yukon.ca.
Mike Fancie
Fire Information Officer, Wildland Fire Management
867-393-7415 or yukonfireinfo@yukon.ca