There are currently two active hotspots in the Northwest Territories. Both of these are holdover smoulderings outside of Fort Smith in the South Slave region, and Fire NWT states will be extinguished by crews with help from a helicopter. Those are the only fires detected and first to date this…
“There was no evacuation plan. To go from zero to 100 created mass panic.” — a female health-care worker. Tempers flared at a public meeting into the City of Yellowknife’s response to the 2023 wildfire season, including the unprecedented evacuation of the community. Mayor Rebecca Alty sat…
Indigenous governments and organizations impacted by the 2023 wildfire season have been given a total of $15 million to reimburse them for expenses incurred supporting their members. Minister of Northern Affairs Dan Vandal stated in a release: “The funding will support Indigenous governments and organizations who stepped up to provide…
As fire crews continue their work along N.W.T. highways, the Hay River RCMP is raising the alarm about drivers speeding through work zones. Police issued a statement on Tuesday morning denouncing the excessive speeds clocked in recent days and urging drivers to slow down. Two incidents in particular stand out,…
As wildfires rage across the territory, smoke seemed to be stubbornly stuck above the N.W.T. capital. BreezoMeter provides real-time air quality data for locations across the world. This morning, data collected by the website showed the air quality above Yellowknife was poor enough to pose a “very high health risk”…
After more than a month away from home, members of the general public are returning to Fort Smith today. Essential workers returned to the community last week. But today is the first day the general public has been allowed back in. An evacuation order for the town was first issued…
As residents of Yellowknife, Dettah, Ndilǫ, and the Ingraham Trail prepare to return home tomorrow, in the South Slave the situation is different. That’s according to updates shared by the GNWT on Tuesday. The South Slave in particular is experiencing severe drought conditions: Around the Wood Buffalo Complex near Fort…
Residents of Yellowknife, Dettah, and Ndilǫ can finally return home at noon on Wednesday, Sept. 6. That’s according to a joint update shared by the City of Yellowknife and the Yellowknives Dene First Nation on Friday evening. This puts an end to three weeks of uncertainty for more than 20,000…
The evacuation has not been easy for the NWT’s renters. To date, while the GNWT has offered compensation for income disruption and travel, there have been no financial supports specifically for the territory’s renters. And Lisa Thurber, founder of the Tenants’ Association of the N.W.T., says they have been getting…
Thursday was “the calm before the storm today—literally” for fires in the North Slave, according to Fire NWT. Strong winds and hot temperatures are forecast for Friday, which is expected to cause extreme fire behaviour from the North Slave Complex of fires. Near Hay River, Friday is also forecast to…