Hay River, N.W.T., residents allowed to return Thursday as wildfire burns nearby
Hay River, N.W.T., residents allowed to return Thursday as wildfire burns nearby
Crews from the Government of the Northwest Territories and Parks Canada in Fort Smith head out on the line to fight fires on Wednesday, May 24, 2023 in a handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Government of the Northwest Territories
HAY RIVER, N.W.T. -
Residents of the town of Hay River are to be allowed to return to the Northwest Territories community Thursday, even as a wildfire continues to burn on the nearby K'atl'odeeche First Nation reserve.
About 3,500 residents from the town and reserve were forced to leave their homes on May 14.
A post on the town's Facebook page Wednesday said the evacuation order would be reduced to an evacuation alert, meaning residents are allowed to return but should be prepared to leave again if conditions worsen.
"Conditions are still not without risk, but the town recognizes the offsetting impact and risks to residents being away from their homes," the post states.
"The mayor and council appreciate residents' sacrifices during this time. Countless people have relentlessly worked to ensure there has been no damage to your homes or properties and are excited for you to return."
Germaine Michel said she's looking forward to returning home. She has been staying in Manning, Alta., about 500 kilometres to the south, with friends after leaving Hay River in her camper in the middle of the night.
"The fire was bad. Really, really bad. It was across the river and you could see it," she said, adding it was smoky when she left.
"I don't think I really brought everything I needed. I just panicked and went around the house, got what I thought I needed and then left."
When she returns home, Michel said she plans to repack the camper in case they have to leave again.
Kate Latour said she's also happy to be able to go home. She, her husband and child have been staying at her brother's home in Fort Resolution, N.W.T.
"Hearing the evacuation alarm going off this year caused even more stress than I was imagining it might, and panic," she said.
Latour said she is grateful for the work of firefighters and other service providers. She said she and her family will be there to help K'atl'odeeche First Nation, which has suffered damage from the fire.
Glenn Smith, Hay River's senior administrative officer, said Tuesday during an overview of the re-entry plan that getting the fire under control was a key condition for allowing people to return. He said the fire will be active throughout the summer and weather will affect its severity and the risk it poses.
"We know that everyone wants to come home. We know that this has been extremely stressful on so many levels and we are doing everything we can to get you back home as soon as it is safe," Mayor Kandis Jameson said. "We had a safe evacuation and we are not going to risk bringing people back too soon."
Re-entry begins with the restoration of essential services on Wednesday, which includes calling in staff, completing inspections and assessments and stocking supplies. That is to be followed by general community re-entry on Thursday at noon, and finally allowing the return of people with special health-care needs, such as dialysis, once the evacuation alert is lifted.
The K'atl'odeeche First Nation will have a separate plan for residents to return.
Crews continue to tackle the out-of-control wildfire near the town that is more than 32 square kilometres in size. Firefighters are completing control lines to the south and east of the fire, and blacklining or extinguishing burnable fuels in front of control lines.
More than a dozen buildings have been damaged by the fire on the reserve.
While there have been spot fires in Hay River as winds carried embers over the river, there were no fires in the town Wednesday morning and no damage has been reported.
Residents from both K'atl'odeeche First Nation and Hay River were previously forced to leave their homes last May due to historic flooding in the area. In October, the Northwest Territories government said it estimated the flooding caused more than $174 million in damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure in the communities.
As of Wednesday, 11 fires were burning across the territory, including a nearly 57-square-kilometre fire about 50 kilometres south of Sambaa K'e. Crews have been pulled off that fire due to its intensity and risk but it is still being monitored.
A wildfire greater than 38 square kilometres in size is also burning around 100 kilometres west of Kakisa. The territory said the community is not at risk.
A total of 17 wildfires have burned around 170 square kilometres in the territory this season so far.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 24, 2023.
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
Hundreds of American firefighters have recently arrived in Canada to help battle wildfires and more are on the way, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday.
An official recommendation to wear a mask to protect yourself from wildfire smoke is being echoed by health experts as plumes of smoke make their way across parts of Canada, causing poor air quality.
Photos show smoke-filled skies in cities across Canada and the U.S. as air quality warnings were issued in wake of the hundreds of wildfires from Quebec and Ontario.
As forest fires rage across the country, experts are sounding the alarm over the physical and psychological impacts of the wildfires and saying that they pose a serious public health issue, which individuals and governments need to acknowledge and act upon.
With the latest hike bringing Canada's key interest rates to levels not seen since 2001, one mortgage broker is warning that it may be 'the last straw' for some homeowners with variable mortgages.
Canadians are twice as likely to support a formal inquiry into foreign interference, as opposed to public hearings, according to new polling from Nanos Research for CTV News.
It's been a busy, tumultuous few days for Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex as he took his place on the witness stand in his trial against the Mirror Group Newspapers. Here are royal commentator Afua Hagan's top takeaways from his two-day grilling.
The man who was found not criminally responsible in the stabbing deaths of five people at a house party in Brentwood more than nine years ago is seeking more freedoms.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is showing no interest in compromising with Meta and Google over a Liberal bill that would make them pay for Canadian journalism that helps the companies generate revenue.
Post tropical storm Fiona showed how quickly Canadians can be displaced by climate change. W5 looks into whether more people living in vulnerable areas will have to consider moving in the years to come.
Convicted murderer Daniel Jolivet, in prison for the past 30 years, has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested. W5 reviews the evidence he painstakingly assembled while behind bars.
W5 Producer Shelley Ayres explains how she was in awe to meet what the Guinness Book of World Record's has named the World's Tallest Teenager, a 17-year-old from Quebec who plays for Team Canada.
CTV W5 investigates what authorities knew about plans to smuggle cocaine out of the Dominican Republic on a Toronto-bound Pivot Airlines flight. The airline's crew is demanding justice following their eight-month detention.
Gordie Sampson has written hit songs for some of the biggest names in country music, including Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan. CTV W5 speaks with the Grammy winner from small-town Nova Scotia about his creative process.
Romance scams have always been around, but they got worse during the pandemic, and fraudsters continue to use social media and dating sites to find victims.
Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for Ottawa, with the air quality at 10+ "very high risk" Wednesday morning. Conditions improved in the afternoon.
There's high levels of air pollution in Waterloo region and Wellington County as smoke plumes from wildfires burning in Quebec and northeastern Ontario continue to blow into the region, Environment Canada says.
Students at Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School in London, Ont. are being investigated after a video was posted online showing students tearing down a LGBTQ2S+ pride flag.
As wildfire smoke blankets Eastern Canada and the U.S., causing hazardous air quality and hazy skies, smoke in the Forest City is expected to remain until at least Thursday night.
Since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Honk Mobile Parking App has offered two hours of free municipal parking in London’s core area business districts.
The body of a woman reported missing in January has been found by Windsor police and her mother is struggling with the confirmation that her daughter is gone.
In the wake of a first-degree murder charge being filed against a Michigan man for killing his estranged wife, a 36-year-old Windsor woman, the head of an emergency shelter for women and children says femicide is a growing problem in Windsor-Essex.
An Ontario man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Claudia Iacono, the daughter-in-law of Mafia associate Moreno Gallo, after she was gunned down at the wheel of her car in Montreal last month.
Quebec's wildfire season, which has forced thousands from their homes and left other communities on high alert, is the worst on record, officials said Wednesday,
It is still not safe for some evacuated residents whose houses were spared from wildfire damage to return home, officials from Halifax Regional Municipality and the District of Shelburne said.
The father of disabled teen from Fall River, N.S. is calling on all sides to get back to the bargaining table and put an end to the Halifax area CUPE educational support worker strike.
The closure of Fort Gibraltar following the collapse of an elevated walkway that sent 16 students and one teacher to hospital has left some couples scrambling to find a place to get married.
Calgary city council has reconsidered its decision to vote against recommendations made by an expert panel to address the city’s housing affordability crisis.
The Archdiocese of Edmonton will spend $3.2 million on reconciliation initiatives with First Nations, Métis and Inuit people in the Alberta capital region.
Drivers are being asked to find another way or prepare for delays on the Henday this weekend, because crews need to close a bridge over the North Saskatchewan River.
A human-caused wildfire on the Lower Mainland has grown to an estimated 800 hectares and continues to burn out of control Wednesday, according to the BC Wildfire Service.
Rental housing advocates interrupted an announcement by B.C.'s housing minister in Vancouver Wednesday morning to object to the provincial government's response to the affordability crisis.
An air quality advisory is in effect for parts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley as wildfire smoke and high temperatures create hazy, potentially hazardous conditions.
Canadians are twice as likely to support a formal inquiry into foreign interference, as opposed to public hearings, according to new polling from Nanos Research for CTV News.
Hazy skies tinged with an eery yellow glow greeted millions of Canadians in Quebec and Ontario again Wednesday as the smoke from hundreds of wildfires continued to cause air quality warnings in Canada's most populated corridor. In a bizarre twist of fate, on a day when air quality was among the worst the country has ever seen, it was national Clean Air Day in Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is showing no interest in compromising with Meta and Google over a Liberal bill that would make them pay for Canadian journalism that helps the companies generate revenue.
As forest fires rage across the country, experts are sounding the alarm over the physical and psychological impacts of the wildfires and saying that they pose a serious public health issue, which individuals and governments need to acknowledge and act upon.
Being a 'sleep procrastinator' might not only make you grumpy the next day, it can put your health at risk. A sleep expert shares tips for making sure bedtime is shut-eye time.
Two people died in what officials believe was a mass fentanyl overdose over the weekend involving five people in a hotel room in the Hawaii tourist mecca of Waikiki.
The James Webb Space Telescope set its sights on a galaxy 20 million light-years away, capturing a dazzling star-forming galaxy in images streaked with the signature of passing asteroids.
Reporters are a skeptical bunch, so it was unusual to hear so many of them raving about their firsthand experience with Apple's next Big Thing: the high-priced headset called Vision Pro, a device infused with totally virtual reality as well as augmented reality that projects digital images on top of real-world settings.
As artificial intelligence programs such as ChatGPT offer new tools for creativity and content creation, one company is using AI-powered software in tandem with classic literature in a way you might not expect.
An actor known for his roles on the comedy television shows "Bob's Burgers" and "Mr. Show with Bob and David" was arrested Wednesday on charges that he joined a mob of Donald Trump supporters in confronting police officers during the U.S. Capitol riot, court records show.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson released the first episode of his new show on Twitter on Tuesday, weeks after being taken off the air by the network following a damaging defamation lawsuit over false claims of election fraud.
With the latest hike bringing Canada's key interest rates to levels not seen since 2001, one mortgage broker is warning that it may be 'the last straw' for some homeowners with variable mortgages.
Workers at the Barnes & Noble in Manhattan's Union Square, one of the retail chain's signature stores and home to its corporate offices, have voted to unionize.
Montana became the first state in the U.S. to enact a complete ban on TikTok on Wednesday when Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a measure that's more sweeping than any other state's attempts to curtail the social media app, which is owned by a Chinese tech company.
Years ago, when my now-grown daughter Justine was a toddler, we visited a U-pick farm where she plucked plump, ripe strawberries from a field of sprawling plants. Some made it into the basket on that sunny June day; others went directly into her mouth.
With the stench of smoke permeating Yankee Stadium and wafting through its walkways, Major League Baseball postponed games in New York and Philadelphia on Wednesday night because of poor air quality caused by Canadian wildfires.
Insurance industry group Equite Association says vehicle theft in multiple provinces surged last year. Vehicle theft was up by 50 per cent in Quebec year over year, by 48.3 per cent in Ontario, by 34.5 per cent in Atlantic Canada and by 18.3 per cent in Alberta.
Ontario has committed to paying a third of the cost to save a $5-billion electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Ont., premier Doug Ford said Thursday.
Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone on Tuesday formally pleaded not guilty to a fraud charge over his alleged failure to declare millions of dollars held in a trust in Singapore to Britain's government.
Crews from the Government of the Northwest Territories and Parks Canada in Fort Smith head out on the line to fight fires on Wednesday, May 24, 2023 in a handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Government of the Northwest Territories
