The community of Fort Providence, N.W.T., has been ordered to evacuate as of 8:57 a.m. on Sunday.
Community members are asked to leave immediately to Hay River. Residents needing transportation should meet at the community arena.
An evacuation alert had been put in place on Saturday. According to an update from N.W.T. Fire on Sunday morning, the wildfire grew significantly overnight driven by severe northerly winds.
The fire is now two kilometres north of Fort Providence.
N.W.T. wildfire information officer Mike Westwick called the fire situation critical. The fire moved 11 kilometres overnight due to “extraordinary conditions.”
The government’s wind speed monitors showed little to no wind in the community this morning, but that could change by this afternoon, as northerly winds are expected to push the fire closer to the community.
Westwick said it could reach the community this evening.
“We are concerned about the wind forecast for later today,” he told CBC.
Structure protection specialists were in Fort Providence several days ago and installed sprinklers and a water cannon on the community’s edge.
Homes on the perimeter of Fort Providence are outfitted with sprinklers to mitigate potential losses, he said.
“We’re working to do everything we can to protect that community and efforts will continue throughout the day,” Westwick said.
Crews have soaked structures along the edge of the community. Aircraft have been unable to attack the fire because visibility is too poor to fly. Extreme winds and the size of the fire made it unsafe to directly attack this fire with crews, Westwick said.
The fire will be hit with air tankers as much as possible but the focus now is structure protection on the ground because the head of the fire is too wide to directly attack with crews.
Incident management is on site in Fort Providence.
Mayor Danny Beaulieu told CBC Saturday night that buses were on the way to the community of 700 people to transport residents without vehicles.
Hay River’s fire department is on standby in case the fire reaches the community of Fort Providence, Beaulieu said.
Westwick said Beaulieu and his team are “highly, highly experienced and efficient in keeping their folks safe.”
“They’re working tirelessly right now to coordinate that evacuation and keep people safe,” he said.
Westwick urged evacuees to follow directions from the community government to ensure an orderly evacuation.
“The fire activity is critical in the area and it is important that you stay calm, that you collect your things and you make an orderly exit out of the community. That’s going to be the safest, safest thing for anybody there right now.”
Highway 3, the highway running north to Yellowknife from Fort Providence, was closed Saturday afternoon due to wildfire activity, and remains closed Sunday morning.
The Deh Cho Bridge, which crosses the Mackenzie River on the way to Hay River, has periodically been down to one lane due to construction, but Beaulieu confirmed it is currently open to two lanes of traffic.
Despite highway closures, Westwick said “evacuees will be able to get where they need to go” and highway staff will ensure their safe passage.
