Beaver Creek, parts of Alaska Highway in Yukon under evacuation alert

The Yukon government announced Monday afternoon there is an evacuation alert in place for Beaver Creek and surrounding areas due to a nearby wildfire. (Paul Tukker/CBC)

By RCI, CBC News

A wildfire north of Beaver Creek, Yukon, has prompted a warning to residents of the community, as well as parts of the surrounding area, to be prepared to leave in case of an evacuation.

The area is under an evacuation alert as of 4 p.m. Monday. That’s different from an evacuation order, where people would be asked to leave. An alert is meant to give residents time to prepare in case an order is issued.

The territory said the area under alert runs from the Beaver Creek Bridge to just north of the solid waste facility. It includes all properties east of the Alaska Highway along the Beaver Creek waterway, and applies to all roads intersecting the highway between kilometres 1,868 and 1,879.

According to the Yukon’s wildfire map Monday afternoon, the wildfire in question has burned about 76 square kilometres of land so far, over the course of the past month. At last update on Monday, fire personnel were analyzing the fire and looking to prevent damage to properties or infrastructure.