An abandoned campfire sparked a blaze Saturday that quickly forced the evacuation of Fort Good Hope.
As of 10 p.m., NWT Fire described “extreme fire behaviour,” as crews worked to keep fire from the Sahtu community of 500 people.
“While the wildfire has not yet reached Fort Good Hope, it is within one kilometre of structures in the community,” stated GNWT information officer Thomas Bentham. “There is a high probability of structure loss within the community during the night.”
Ground crews and air support continue working into the night.
The fire was last night estimated at 200 hectares in size and expected to grow as winds continued to shift.
Multiple crews are working the line to hold the fire.
An Incident Management Team has been sent is to the community and additional air support was en route to fight the fire.
“We are working to establish structure protection in the community as quickly as possible,” NWT Fire stated late Saturday.
Airtankers and helicopters have been working to slow the fire’s growth and assist ground action by local fire crews.
Additional crews are on the way.
The initial attack began this morning upon discovery. It has grown from two hectares to five hectares in size as of Saturday evening.
The last measurement had the blaze’s size at 200 hectares.
UPDATE: As of Sunday morning from NWT Fire… No structures were lost overnight. Firefighters continue to keep blaze at bay and are patrolling community checking for any embers.
Fort Good Hope. (Photo courtesy of MACA.)
