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According to Keith Clarke, there hasn’t been a wildfire in the valley south of the Mary Lake subdivision of Whitehorse, Yukon for over 100 years. But as climate change causes hotter summers and drier springs, he knows the risk is increasing. …“It is no longer a question of if a wildfire comes up from the south. It is a question of when,” he says. …the territorial government has been working on the Whitehorse South Fuel Break since 2020. Once complete, it will form a 20-kilometre buffer along the southern periphery of the city. …The Fuel Break is an area that has been clear-cut, scraped clean of all vegetation, slicing through the boreal forest that surrounds the city. …The fuel break is a kilometre and a half wide in some places because wind bourne embers can travel long distances… To slow a wildfire even more, the territorial government is planting aspen trees where the conifers have been removed. [This story may require a subscription for full access]