As firefighters and volunteers were desperately fighting to save Fort Good Hope after a campfire wasn’t extinguished, another “human caused” fire outside of Norman Wells drew crews away for a while on Sunday night.
In Norman Wells, there are 225 evacuees from Fort Good Hope, whose lives were turned upside down in short order on Saturday. The next community that would be considered a safe haven is Inuvik, officials said today.
The Fort Good Hope fire remains classified as out of control and at 1,368 hectares. Still, the much smaller Norman Wells fire remains “active.”
Jay Boast, spokesperson for the NWT Emergency Management Organization. (Image courtesy Teams livestream.)
The fire fight will have to go through a few steps – and have favourable winds – before the fire is contained, then declared under control and folks are allowed to return home, Emergency Management Organization spokesperson Jay Boast told a media conference today.
“The one thing I would have people thinking about, and caution people about, is when the fire is under control, there still is a step before people can come back (and that is) to make sure the community is actually safe, to make sure that all of the essential services are up and running.
“So, there’s sometimes a little bit of a space between the time that the fire is declared under control (and) making sure that the community is perfectly safe for people to come back to. And I know that that period is a time when people can be a little bit impatient, but I just ask for people’s patience to ensure the safety of all residents.”
As for where the other evacuees are from the chartered community of more than 500 people, there’s the 225 in Norman Wells, more than 118 stayed behind to help fight the fire, about 100 are at a fish camp, and 12 are in Délı̨nę.
Fort Good Hope Chief Collin Pierrot said the fish camp started out as an on-the-land opportunity for youth to learn how to work on fish.
Fort Good Hope wildfire on the weekend. (Photo courtesy of Natasha Harris.)
“I believe we have 110 of the community members down there. We were having a fish camp that was taking out youth to teach them how to work on fish and we ended up using it as an emergency evacuation place.
“We have people on ground down there along with some of our leadership that are coordinating the daily roads back and forth for showers. And we are sending groceries down and clean drinking water.”
Pierrot said he will be working closely with RCMP after the crisis has passed to determine what, if any, charges could be laid. The fire was due to a campfire being not properly extinguished outside of the community.
Municipal and Community Affairs Minister Vince McKay praised, Chief Collin Pierrot for his, “incredible leadership and unwavering dedication during this crisis.
“His efforts have been instrumental in guidance and supporting the community through these challenging times.”
Canada Post has a ‘red delivery service alert’ currently issued for Fort Good Hope. That means suspended delivery mail is being securely held until further notice.
There is no official word yet if the fire and evacuation will alter plans to hold the Dene National Assembly in Fort Good Hope in late July.
