Propane trucks have been escorted through highway closures to help a fuel crisis in the town of Inuvik, MLA and NWT minister Lesa Semmler says.
On Tuesday, Inuvik Gas asked customers to conserve energy after “an unexpected fuel supply reduction and weather conditions limiting road access.”
The Dempster Highway, connecting Inuvik to the south via the Yukon, has been closed near the NWT border because of freezing rain, blowing snow and strong winds.
Pilot cars have been guiding traffic through when conditions allow. On Tuesday afternoon, the Yukon government said conditions had incrementally improved and the road had reopened but “travel is not recommended.” By Tuesday night, the NWT government said the road at the border had again closed.
The nature of the unexpected fuel supply reduction wasn’t immediately explained by Inuvik Gas, nor was the extent of the town’s reserves clear. Inuvik does have other power infrastructure, such as a wind turbine and diesel plant.
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Inuvik Gas told residents to use alternative fuel sources where possible, like wood stoves or diesel, and reduce heat to “a manageable temperature,” though conditions in the town dropped to almost -45C on Tuesday and were expected to climb no higher than -37C on Wednesday. (“Those are the most ridiculous suggestions. It’s -50 outside my house right now,” one resident wrote in response.)
The company said a reduction in use was needed “for the coming days.”
“Many Inuvik leaders had a meeting this morning, and there are several developments underway. What I know at this time is that they are piloting propane trucks as they arrive at Eagle Plains,” Semmler, the Inuvik Twin Lakes MLA and health minister, told residents on Tuesday.
“It is very important with this cold weather and the extended road closures that we all do our part to conserve until the trucks are able to fill up our storage and keep them filled now that the ice crossing weights are now up to safely cross.”
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The sheer cold this week, unusual even by northern standards, has already caused problems in multiple communities.
Sheila Taylor, an Inuvik resident, said the furnace in her public housing unit had stopped working and maintenance technicians only expected to be able to replace it on Wednesday.
“We have one heater going and our cooking stove going for heat, and the water tap has to go all night so the pipes don’t freeze or burst,” Taylor told Cabin Radio on Tuesday evening.
She said four occupants of the home had nowhere else to go. “We gotta tough this out in this weather,” she said.
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