Fire expected to reach Hay River, N.W.T., on Wednesday evening
CBC News | Posted: August 16, 2023 3:47 PM | Last Updated: August 17, 2023
'The situation has changed quickly,' fire officials said in evening update
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A wildfire burning near Hay River, N.W.T., is expected to reach the community sometime Wednesday evening, according to emergency officials.
In an online update early Wednesday evening, N.W.T. Fire said strong winds had blown the fire within 10 kilometres of the community.
"The situation has changed quickly," it reads.
Some firefighting crews were pulled out of the path of the fire and moving to other areas. A "quick strike" team from Alberta was laying down retardant to try to stop the fire's spread. Sprinklers and structure protections were also in place, officials said.
The chief of K'atl'odeeche First Nation also posted a video online Wednesday evening about the approaching fire.
"It's moving fast," said Chief April Martel.
The town of Hay River also posted that the fire was moving northward toward the community.
"All persons should go to the Hay River Airport and await further instructions," reads the town's post.
In a news conference on Tuesday, Hay River Mayor Kandis Jameson said there were around 500 people still in the community and she pleaded for them to leave. An emergency flight that left later that day only flew 14 people out.
Fire officials said earlier Wednesday afternoon that the fire was about 16 kilometres from Hay River and that the fire's growth had been slowed by light winds on Tuesday.
In an update Wednesday morning, the town said a small part of the fire that was burning by Paradise Gardens has been extinguished thanks to helicopter bucketing. Crews are blacklining in the area and are starting to work their way in to access another area of the fire.
The town said crews were also working to put out hot spots in Enterprise and protect the few structures that remain standing.
First look at infrastructure damage
The town said Northwestel has identified four spots on the fibre line where the wildfire damaged the infrastructure. There isn't a timeline yet for when that will be repaired.
Northland Utilities has also identified extensive repairs that will be needed to their service area, where the fire downed 250 hydro poles.
As for rail lines, those coming into Hay River are still closed.
The town said Imperial Oil expects to have its fuel terminal open soon so crews can keep fuelling up vehicles and equipment.
Evacuation orders still in place
Michael Miltenberger said it was "tough" to leave his home in Fort Smith.
"We didn't want to become a burden, so we left," he said.
Choosing what to take was also difficult. He decided to bring a moosehide jacket, a vest his wife made him that he wore when delivering budget addresses during his time as finance minister.
"We just did a quick walk around our house, said goodbye to it and hoped that we would be back," he said.
As chair of the local museum, he also went to grab a single artifact: a travelling copy of Treaty 8 that was signed in 1899 that's kept in a special case.
On Sunday, most of the communities in the South Slave region were ordered to evacuate due to multiple wildfires either directly threatening communities or threatening to close highways connecting them to the rest of the territory.
Fort Smith, Salt River First Nation, Hay River, Kátł'odeeche First Nation, Enterprise and Jean Marie River are all still under evacuation orders.
It's still unclear when residents will be able to return.
Gregg Walker, the incident commander with Parks Canada for the fire burning near Fort Smith, said most of the fire's growth happened Sunday. It has held about four kilometres from the community since then.
Rain earlier this week gave crews time to build additional protection.
"We're just essentially trying to make a big fire guard south of all of these communities," said Walker.
Crews are also actively fighting the fire where it's most active when possible.
Walker said the upcoming forecast makes it difficult to predict where the fire will spread, and if it will reach the town.
"We're not expecting it to, but it's possible. So it's kind of a mixed forecast in terms of fire behaviour. As I said, the rain that we had is minimal. It will dry out because it's so dry … And so it has the potential to spread. I can't say whether it will or not. The forecast is mixed. It could also be a bit of rain later [Wednesday] afternoon or tomorrow. That would help us tremendously," he said.
This being the case, he stressed that it is still not safe for residents to return.
"If anyone left in the community is feeling unsafe, go to the recreation centre to seek shelter or request evacuation assistance," reads a message on social media from Fort Smith Protective Services.
'Paying a huge price'
Miltenberger has also previously served as the territory's environment minister — including in 2014, which was the worst wildfire season on record in the N.W.T.
He called the current wildfire evacuees "climate refugees."
"We definitely have to get very, very serious in the communities with serious money about fire smarting," he said.
He also said residents should consider changing the materials on their homes.
"Forget asphalt shingles, forget vinyl siding," he said, and added that he's changed to metal roofing and fire-resistant siding.
"We have to make sure that we create a small target and give ourselves every chance to survive and then firesmart the territory," he said.
"We talk about it, but it's never done. There's never enough money. People go on to other things after the emergencies are over, and once again, we're paying a huge price."
The territorial government has provided the following information for residents:
- N.W.T. residents who need to evacuate can register here.
- Territorial wildfire updates can be found here. Report smoke or fire by calling 1-877-698-3473.
- Emergency response resources can be found here.
- The latest community statuses, including notices, alerts and orders, can be found here.
- Additional information for evacuees can be found here.