The Fort Good Hope wildfire is back behind its bulldozed firebreak blackline after it jumped containment this week, but there are still no reports of structure loss.
Shannon Graf is NWT Fire’s information officer for the massive blaze, known as VQ001.
Fort good hope firebreak (Photo courtesy NWT Fire)
“The bulldozed clearing was put in place in the north towards the Rabbit Skin River (Hare Indian River) there are confirmed reports that the fire has jumped this containment. Airtankers and crews were able bring them under control late yesterday evening,” she stated in a release today.
“Crews continue to monitor the blackline surrounding the community for hot spots. Air work was done on the northern flank late in the evening due to increased activity from extreme conditions.
“Helicopter bucketing will continue to make strategic water drops to slow further growth towards the community, protect structures, and assist ground action with airtanker support.”
Fort Good Hope Chief Collin Pierrot said the firefighters are working as hard as they can, to the point of exhaustion.
Pierrot also sounded a second evacuation order – the first was on June 15 – at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, advising any remaining residents to leave.
There was some earlier discussion on social media about non-essential workers being spotted in the charter community of more than 500 people.
There are some 50 to 60 firefighters and others actually working to fight the blaze, and there are also other essential workers for the community’s utilities.
Pierrot had foreshadowed a second evacuation notice late Tuesday night, as the fire burst its containment line.
“The fire situation has changed … where the fire originally started has turned and flared up and now is 800 metres away from my cabin around Rabbitskin. They’re going to do a back burn as a last resort, this is a control burn and we are hoping this works.
“If not, we will be ringing the community siren and doing the last evacuation order and everyone will get an emergency evacuation order from EMO (Emergency Measures Organization) on their phones.”
Fort Good Hope Chief Collin Pierrot after the June 15 evacuation. (Image courtesy Teams/GNWT livestream)
However, it’s unclear exactly who the second evacuation order was intended for, above and beyond any non-essential workers.
The Chief posted to social media about the scare Wednesday when the blaze broke free.
“Around 1:30 pm they started a back burn on the north-west side of the fire, on (the) old fire break by my cabin. Everything went well as planned, but winds picked up and it jumped the fire guard at the bottom part close to Rabbitskin, not much we could do but regroup at intersection of where it leads into culture camp and take a stand there as the fire started spotting all over.
“We managed to hold it there and we are still blowing out areas that are a threat for tonight till morning, some guys went home to get some much-needed rest, while few of us are going to continue to battle this fire. Yukon and GNWT crews are still out with us.”
Pierrot again asked residents anxious to return home to be patient and “let us fight this fire the right way.”
NWT Fire stated dry weather is expected to continue, offering little relief for the relative humidity.
This could mean more aggressive fire behaviour, as temperatures climb to a forecasted 29C.
Meanwhile, there is little new to report on the other 18 active wildfires (11 of those are out-of-control) in the southern regions of the territory.
NWT Fire reports one new small lightning caused fire, north of Camsell Bend on the Mackenzie River.
And please note any fire bans in your community or region.
