haolenate Posted August 18, 2018 #1 Share Posted August 18, 2018 Greetings, Just left Whitehorse (where I work) to head home to Juneau, and was quite aware of the massive fires in BC near the Alaska border, but was shocked to see the smoke/smog once I got close to Carcross and into BC/Alaska. It seems the entire mountains are on fire (or were). The fires are not being fought, seems the government is just letting them burn, and the winds aren't helping. Those of you going to Carcross or near Tagish Lake (where these photos were taken) might want to be aware the air quality isn't very good right now. The WPYRR only gets near Tagish Lake at Carcross (there is a river linking them). The winds could easily blow the smoke into Carcross and the Lake Bennett area. Fraser and Skagway were fine - no direct smoke or fires nearby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrmende63 Posted August 19, 2018 #2 Share Posted August 19, 2018 That is so sad [emoji20] to see those beautiful mountains on fire. And the wildlife it is affecting. [emoji22] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesp Posted August 20, 2018 #3 Share Posted August 20, 2018 We drove through Tagish last Wednesday (August 14) and saw the fire. At that time the smoke was not bad and the main fire seemed concentrated in one spot. Looks like it was worse by the time you went through. We were in Jasper, Canada and were smoked-in a week before from fires in British Columbia. Visibility in Jasper was so bad you could not see the mountains surrounding the town. Wesley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budget Queen Posted August 20, 2018 #4 Share Posted August 20, 2018 Week before last the fire was just smoldering and looked to be dying out but I returned a few days ago and it has spread significantly some heavy smoke areas depending on winds. At least 5 times bigger than the prior week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvorcruise Posted August 22, 2018 #5 Share Posted August 22, 2018 The fire is now out of control and there are fears that it will jump the lake when it reaches the narrows in the next few days. If that happens, the community of Tagish is in great danger. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haolenate Posted August 22, 2018 Author #6 Share Posted August 22, 2018 This might be helpful. Zoom in towards the bottom. https://yukon.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=86dfe14788024d8e87608c5017cb4d16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haolenate Posted August 22, 2018 Author #7 Share Posted August 22, 2018 Things are getting bad... the Alaska Highway (Alcan) is now closed at the Yukon border.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesp Posted August 23, 2018 #8 Share Posted August 23, 2018 I think I combined two fires when commenting. There is a large fire at Watson Lake that has closed the Alcan Highway. The fire I saw last week was the Windy Arm fire, south of Carcross on the Klondike Highway between Skagway and Carcross. Here is a report from local news: Yukon Wildland Fire Management says the Windy Arm Fire south of Carcross is sending smoke into the Southern Lakes area and Whitehorse. That fire is 1,200 hectares in size, but is not a threat to any structures or communities as it burns in the wilderness. Some preventative burning was done late last week near the mouth of Lime Creek, which stopped fire growth to the north. Wesley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katrina915 Posted August 23, 2018 #9 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Have any excursions from skagway cancel going into the yukon? Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvorcruise Posted August 23, 2018 #10 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Have any excursions from skagway cancel going into the yukon? No, nothing has been cancelled or will be cancelled - the fire is now moving away from the South Klondike Highway, though it could still threaten a small community far off the excursion routes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamchops Posted August 24, 2018 #11 Share Posted August 24, 2018 The smoke has reached Vancouver. These pictures are from the north shore across from Canada place. I usually count the number of cruise ships in port while driving across the Lions Gate bridge on my way to work but couldn’t see through the haze. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gottagoacruzn Posted August 25, 2018 #12 Share Posted August 25, 2018 Hi lamchop, didn't see any pictures. Some friends of mine are on the Ruby P. next week an since I've been up to Alaska several times, she was worried about the fires, an I told her not to worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvorcruise Posted August 25, 2018 #13 Share Posted August 25, 2018 Some friends of mine are on the Ruby P. next week an since I've been up to Alaska several times, she was worried about the fires, an I told her not to worry. The Windy Arm fire, the only one that could have affected cruisers at Skagway, is pretty much out as of yesterday afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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