'Fire roaring towards your town': N.W.T. mayor describes emotional 'roller coaster' during wildfire evacuation

A wildfire burning out of control in the area of Hay River, N.W.T., has destroyed a cabin and a travel trailer near the shores of Great Slave Lake, the town’s mayor said Saturday.

However, Mayor Kandis Jameson said, the community was in much better condition than many had imagined the night before.

The community’s multimillion-dollar water treatment plant was still standing and there were no reported fatalities as of Saturday afternoon, which Jameson called “huge” victories.

“So we have a much better and brighter situation than it might have been," the town mayor said in a virtual press conference Saturday. 

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Jameson credited the hard work of firefighters who were “relentlessly” working to attack and control the fire for the limited destruction in the community.

“They fought last night with humour, grace and humility,” she said.

As of Saturday afternoon, the fire was one kilometre west of the local airport and 1.5 kilometres west of the Hay River town centre. It was roughly 3,994 square kilometres in size.

The fire was also roughly three kilometres east of the River Woods Estates, seven kilometres south of residences in the K’átł’odeeche First Nation reserve and 12 kilometres southeast of Kakisa.

It had already reached Patterson Road and Paradise Garden, damaging structures in the latter, officials said in an update online.

The territorial government said north winds were expected for much of Saturday, pushing the fire back on itself in many areas, improving visibility and limiting fire growth in the direction of Hay River and the K’átł’odeeche First Nation.

“The Town of Hay River and surrounding area may be threatened due to the close distance of this fire to the community, and the extreme weather coming up,” it said.

More than 200 personnel, 10 helicopters, 19 pieces of heavy equipment and several air tankers were fighting the blaze Saturday.

On Friday, officials said high temperatures and strong southwest winds caused a “blow-up event” that sent the wildfire closer toward the town and overwhelmed firefighting efforts at the north end of the fire. 

All essential workers, except firefighters, were forced to evacuate the community on Friday evening as a result.

The military loaded two evacuation flights with civilians, emergency responders, pets and Canadian Armed Forces members. Another 40 vehicles left by road.

Jameson, who was on board one of the flights with her dog, said it was difficult to leave when she could see the flames heading near her town.

“Emotionally, it was a roller coaster to look out the window and see that fire roaring towards your town. It was something I will never forget,” she said.

“I felt like I was abandoning the people that were working the hardest for us and that was a really tough one to come to terms with. But it was time, it was time to get out. It was not a good situation.”

Jameson said there were an estimated 100 civilians still in the town, but two Coast Guard ships were standing by in the harbour in case there was a need for further evacuations.

OTHER AREAS STILL IMPACTED BY FIRES

Elsewhere in the South Slave region, the territory’s fire danger forecast was high for the communities of Fort Resolution, Fort Providence, Fort Smith and Enterprise on Saturday.

At its closest, the Wood Buffalo Complex wildfire, which is one of the fires of concern, was approximately 3.4 kilometres south of the closest residence within Fort Smith, 2.4 kilometres away from the Bell Rock subdivision and 4.3 kilometres away from Thebaca.

That fire is roughly 4,683 square kilometres in size.

In the North Slave region, the fire danger forecast was deemed high for the communities of Lutsel Ke, Wekweeti, Whati and Gameti, and extreme for Yellowknife and Behchoko.

More than 360 personnel, including members of the Canadian Armed Forces personnel, 17 helicopters, four air tanker groups and heavy equipment were assigned to fires in the region on Saturday.

The Behchoko/Yellowknife fire, also dubbed ZF015, remained about 15 kilometres away from Yellowknife and was roughly 1,670 square kilometres in size.

EVACUATION CENTRES IN ALBERTA RECEIVE INFLUX OF EVACUEES

More than 19,000 residents from the capital city alone were forced to leave their homes due to the active threat of wildfires in the Northwest Territories.

Jameson confirmed that evacuation centres in Edmonton are now “maxed out,” so those who were evacuated from Hay River on Friday were transported to Calgary.

“Alberta has done a phenomenal job accommodating our residents and (is) still working very hard for the people of my community and I can't thank them enough,” she said.

When asked whether evacuation facilities in Alberta being at full capacity was a concern, the mayor said she didn’t believe so.

“People reach out all the time saying, ‘Hey, I've got this.’ ‘Come here.’”