Fort Providence, N.W.T., prepares for Yellowknifers' return home, says goodbye to evacuees in hamlet
CBC News | Posted: September 6, 2023 11:53 AM | Last Updated: September 6, 2023
'Maybe next time they'll come and say hello instead of just driving by,' mayor says of evacuees hamlet hosted
At Big River Service Centre, shelves are stocked and fuel tanks are 100,000-litres full as the only gas station on the highway between Yellowknife and the Alberta border prepares for swaths of returning evacuees.
General manager Linda Croft said Big River's made sure the gas station was well stocked throughout the evacuation, and staff themselves made trips to High Level, Alta., and Fort Simpson, N.W.T., to ensure travellers aren't left wanting.
"I'd like to see everyone get what they want when they come back for that last little leg of their journey," Croft said.
But she says getting those supplies would have been made easier if her business had been deemed essential.
"We had to really, really dig our heels in and become inventive in how we were going to get our product in," she said, speaking with Trail's End host Lawrence Nayally on Tuesday.
With the essential status designation, she says, suppliers would have been able to come through and they wouldn't have had to send staff elsewhere.
Big River will be open from 6 a.m. to midnight when the evacuation order lifts on Wednesday and the days that follow. It had stayed open for 24 hours as evacuees left the capital three weeks prior, but after one employee returned to school and another took vacation, the service centre didn't have the staff to work around the clock. Though, Croft said if it gets "really, really busy" she would keep it open.
Croft says it's important to her that drivers have a place of respite on their journey.
"And I've always said, you don't have to buy anything. Come in, use the bathroom, sit down, have a talk, have a rest, if I was travelling I'd like to have a place to stop so I hope we're that stop for people."
Fort Providence hosts approx. 150 evacuees
Despite not being an assigned evacuation community, Fort Providence Mayor Danny Beaulieu says the hamlet has been hosting about 150 evacuees from Yellowknife, Dettah, Ndilǫ, Hay River and Fort Smith.
The community has hired cooks to feed those filling the community's hotels and campground, and has been putting on events like drum dances to keep people connected.
Beaulieu said the community will have spent between $20,000 to $30,000 by the time all the evacuees leave, despite not being a community designated for evacuees.
He says they've asked the territory to help cover the expenses but haven't yet gotten a firm answer.
Still, he says it's been good having old friends fill the community.
"On Saturday, they had karaoke at the bar. There were about a hundred people there and a mixture of people from Yellowknife and Hay River and Fort Smith, and people were having fun and enjoying themselves and you see people just walking around town and talking to people," Beaulieu said.
"Before this happened people from Yellowknife just zoomed right through and now they've stopped and seen our community, and found out how friendly and helpful people are then maybe next time they'll come and say hello instead of just driving by."
'Got to give people some timelines'
Lois Little is one of the evacuees who's been staying in Fort Providence.
She says she hopes Fort Providence gets recognition for going "out of their way" to make evacuees feel welcome and comfortable.
Little says she's looking forward to taking "a nice hot bath" and sleeping in her own bed, but that she's also concerned how the fire breaks have changed Yellowknife's landscape.
She says that news of returning to Yellowknife, Dettah and Ndilǫ has noticeably improved spirits around Fort Providence evacuees.
"I hope that this is one of the lessons that the decision makers take, you've got to give people some timelines to work with. Even if the target dates don't work and they get pushed back a couple days, people can live with that, it's just not knowing," she said.
In a statement Tuesday, RCMP said that travellers can expect more officers patrolling the roads leading into the territory and within the N.W.T. border.
Acknowledging that everyone is anxious to return home, RCMP reminded drivers to be patient and respect the rules of the road.
That's a sentiment Croft echoed.
"I hope people are patient, that they're not racing home and putting themselves or anyone in danger."
As people travel through Big River, Croft says, "I'm looking forward to greeting people with a great big old smile … maybe, if they're not in a big rush hearing a story or two."