Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation declares state of emergency over wildfires and smoke

The Vuntut Gwitchin government in Old Crow, Yukon, has declared a state of emergency because of nearby wildfires and heavy smoke in the community. It's also asking the territorial government for more help to prepare for "escalating conditions."

"People in the community are really just kind of gathering and sitting by, anxiously waiting to see what happens with the fires. And right now, the most critical concern for the community is the smoke," said Vuntut Gwitchin Chief Pauline Frost on Friday morning. 

"It's gotten worse overnight."

Frost said the smoke was so thick on Thursday evening that an Air North flight was not able to land at the local airport. 

"I don't know that we can get planes in and out of Old Crow right now, just given the density of smoke."

The community has been under an evacuation alert since earlier this week, with the First Nation asking residents to prepare by packing a three-day evacuation bag. There are several wildfires burning in the area, but Yukon emergency officials say none are currently threatening Old Crow.

However, the First Nation's council passed a resolution on Thursday stating that traditional knowledge of wildfires "indicate that the threat posed by the active wildfires is serious and imminent."

Frost said the declaration is a way to help mobilize resources.

"That means, you know, spending money moving people out of community, paying for accommodations, potentially having evacuations associated with smoke," she said.

"It's going to be hot and again this weekend, so you know, just for protection and putting resources and putting manpower, putting people together, we wanted to ensure that we had all the tools available to us."

Frost said some residents with respiratory issues have already been moved out of the community. The First Nation has also opened the Darius Elias Community Centre as a place where people can gather and get away from the smoke.

"We're trying to bring more games and maybe we'll put a movie on so people can stay. [We're] just trying to think of ways that we can help individuals in the community stay calm, and address their health needs," Frost said.

Request for 'urgent assistance'

The emergency declaration also requests "urgent assistance in preparation for escalating conditions" from the Yukon government, though it's not clear how much help might be available.

The declaration says that assistance could include "additional firefighter resources, emergency social services, evacuation assistance, clean air environments, shelter supports, and alternative air support if regular flight operations at the Old Crow airport cease."

Frost said she spoke to two government ministers on Thursday who told her the community is not under imminent threat.

"We were told that they would provide whatever supports we need, when we need it. But at the moment, because Old Crow is not in imminent threat of fire and there are fires elsewhere, that's where the priorities are going right now," she said.

Mike Fancie, Yukon's fire information officer, told CBC News on Friday morning that there were 92 active fires burning in the territory, with 20 of them receiving some kind of response.

"With the number of fires on the landscape, there's just ... we don't have the resources to put these fires out. I don't think we would ever have had the resources to put these fires out, given their location and the number of fires," Fancie said.

Still, he said the government was sending an experienced wildfire officer to Old Crow on Friday to do a detailed assessment and some preventative planning in case any of the nearby fires become more of an immediate threat.

"The specifics of what we would do are going to come from the assessment that's happening," he said.

"We're juggling a major sequence of priorities because we might have a crew working on one fire and then something else will come up that's actually even more of a risk that we need to manage."

Fancie also said the territory's requests for help from elsewhere have yielded results. An initial attack crew from Newfoundland was arriving on Friday, as well as some fire specialists from Ontario.

Next week, a 20-person crew from Nova Scotia will also arrive in Yukon to help out.

"We have discussions ongoing with a couple of other jurisdictions to see whether further resources are available, but.the results are starting to trickle in and we're really thankful for that," Fancie said.