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The community of Fort Providence, N.W.T., has been ordered to evacuate as of 8:57 a.m. on Sunday.
Community members are asked to leave immediately to Hay River. Residents needing transportation should meet at the community arena.
An evacuation alert had been put in place on Saturday. According to an update from N.W.T. Fire on Sunday morning, the wildfire grew significantly overnight driven by severe northerly winds.
The fire is now two kilometres north of Fort Providence.
N.W.T. wildfire information officer Mike Westwick called the fire situation critical. The fire moved 11 kilometres overnight due to “extraordinary conditions.”
The government’s wind speed monitors showed little to no wind in the community this morning, but that could change by this afternoon, as northerly winds are expected to push the fire closer to the community.
Westwick said it could reach the community this evening.
“We are concerned about the wind forecast for later today,” he told CBC.
Fort Providence is the second N.W.T. community ordered to evacuate in recent days. On Friday, Whatı̀ residents were told to evacuate due to a nearby wildfire. Many people from the community of about 600, roughly 250 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife, have gone to the capital city or Behchokǫ̀.
The community of Jean Marie River, which has been watching a nearby wildfire since early July, issued an evacuation notice on Saturday, which means people should have their personal belongings ready in case the situation changes..
Focus on protecting buildings
Structure protection specialists were in Fort Providence several days ago and installed sprinklers and a water cannon on the community’s edge.
Homes on the perimeter of Fort Providence are outfitted with sprinklers to mitigate potential losses, Westwick said.
“We’re working to do everything we can to protect that community and efforts will continue throughout the day,” he said.
Crews have soaked structures along the edge of the community. Aircraft have been unable to attack the fire because visibility is too poor to fly. Extreme winds and the size of the fire made it unsafe to attack this fire with crews, Westwick said.
The fire will be hit with air tankers as much as possible but the focus now is structure protection on the ground because the head of the fire is too wide to directly attack with crews.
Incident management is on site in Fort Providence.
Hay River ready for evacuees
Fort Providence Mayor Danny Beaulieu told CBC Saturday night that buses were on the way to the community of 700 people to transport residents without vehicles.
Hay River’s fire department is on standby in case the fire reaches the community of Fort Providence, Beaulieu said.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, the Town of Hay River said it’s ready to welcome evacuees.
A reception centre is set up at the Hay River Community Centre, with staff from Hay River Health and Social Services.
“Basic accommodation, food, recreation, programming, and fire information services will be provided at the community centre,” the post said.
Westwick said the mayor and his team are “highly, highly experienced and efficient in keeping their folks safe.”
“They’re working tirelessly right now to coordinate that evacuation and keep people safe,” he said.
Westwick urged evacuees to follow directions from the community government to ensure an orderly evacuation.
“The fire activity is critical in the area and it is important that you stay calm, that you collect your things and you make an orderly exit out of the community. That’s going to be the safest, safest thing for anybody there right now.”
A view of Highway 3 near the N.W.T. border on Saturday, en route to Enterprise. Further north, the highway is closed at Fort Providence, which has been placed under an evacuation order. (Mervin Brass/CBC)
Highway 3, the highway running north to Yellowknife from Fort Providence, was closed Saturday afternoon due to wildfire activity, and remains closed Sunday morning.
The Deh Cho Bridge, which crosses the Mackenzie River on the way to Hay River, has periodically been down to one lane due to construction, but Mayor Beaulieu confirmed it is currently open to two lanes of traffic.
An employee at Big River gas station in Fort Providence confirmed to CBC that it is still open and will remain open unless they’re told to close. He said they have plenty of gas and supplies. He said more than 200 people have gone through the station since Saturday afternoon.
Big River and the Fort Providence Northern Store are the only two places to get gas between Behchokǫ̀ and Enterprise.
Arlene Evans, the manager of the Northern Store, said at 11 a.m. Sunday that they had just locked the doors, as she and her husband prepared to leave for Hay River.
Evans said firefighters were in the store just before she closed, and she gave them free slushies. Evans called the situation “pretty serious.”
“We just hope everybody is safe and getting out,” she said.
Despite highway closures, Westwick said “evacuees will be able to get where they need to go” and highway staff will ensure their safe passage.