N.W.T. fire crews plan to take advantage of the favourable weather conditions expected on Tuesday to do everything they can to protect Fort Providence from a wildfire burning less than a kilometre from the community, according to one of the territory’s fire information officers.
Crews successfully held back the fire on Monday, Mike Westwick said.
But Wednesday will be a challenge.
“We’re looking at winds from the north to northwest … 15 kilometres an hour,” Westwick said.
“Sustained gusting between 25 and 40 kilometres per hour is in the forecast right now. And you know, the levels of moisture in the air, the relative humidity at a point that would sustain decent fire activity. And with the fire right on the community’s doorstep … that’s obviously a significant concern.”
Hamlet leaders ordered an evacuation Sunday morning because a line of fire approximately 10 kilometres wide was dangerously close to the community. Most of the hamlet’s 700 residents went to Hay River.
The evacuation order was expanded Monday morning to include emergency and essential workers.
Crews will spend Tuesday widening fuel-free areas around the community to help protect it when conditions change, Westwick said.
They are also running water cannons and sprinklers and attacking the edge of the fire with helicopters and air tankers when possible to cool it down.
“Everything is on the table,” Westwick said, including possible ignition operations, which would involve intentionally setting fires under controlled conditions to burn away fuel.
Fort Providence Mayor Danny Beaulieu said he doesn’t know when it will be safe for evacuees to return to the hamlet.
“I’m just hoping we can wrap this up, like, in a week or 10 days and get people back home,” Beaulieu said.
“But, until … everything is controlled, they wouldn’t be able to come back yet.”
Beaulieu told evacuees that he understands it’s hard to be away from home and to not know what’s going on, and he assured them that any pets they left behind are being well cared for.
“Right now, everything is safe,” he said. “And I’m 80 per cent positive nothing is going to go wrong.”
Speaking with CBC in Hay River on Monday, evacuee Ruby Minoza said she didn’t sleep on Sunday night because she was worried about her son, a water truck driver who was still in Fort Providence helping fight the fire.
“I kept calling him all night,” she said.
“And sometimes he doesn’t answer the phone because he’s busy. … When he doesn’t answer the phone, I’m worried about him. Like, if they can get out of the community. Are they going to take a boat? All that stuff was just running through my mind.”
Minoza’s granddaughters are with her, she said, and one spent the night crying for her father.
“I felt so emotional because of her crying and not knowing what’s going on back home,” she said.
“I was thinking … is my house still going to be standing up when I get home? Are my grandkids … going to have a house to go home to?”
Fort Providence resident Gregory Elleze said evacuees were being well cared for at the Hay River Community Centre, but he also had trouble sleeping.
“[It’s the] first time I ever slept on a bed like this,” he said.
“I know my stomach had stomach cramps, too.”
The territory’s Department of Finance is urging all wildfire evacuees in the territory to apply online as quickly as possible for its Emergency Evacuation Relief Program.
Adults are eligible to receive $800 each, plus $400 for each dependent under 18, spokesperson Adetoyeke Adedipe said.
The department also sent staff to the evacuation centres in Yellowknife and Behchokǫ̀ on the weekend to help people who needed help with the application, Adedipe said.
They will be in Hay River on Tuesday, she said.
‘Finger’ of N.W.T. wildfire near Fort Providence being held, firefighters say
The department is encouraging households to apply together to reduce paperwork.
They will need photo ID — a passport, driver’s licence or general identification card — and proof of residence, which could be a utility bill, Adedipe said.
Government service officers from each community can also fill in attestation forms to identify members of their communities who may not have proper ID on hand, she said.
People can expect to receive the money via direct deposit within two weeks of submitting their applications, Adedipe added.
The Town of Hay River has notified residents that regular programming at the community centre is cancelled while the facility is being used as an evacuee reception centre.
