Wekwet, N.W.T., begins evacuation as 3 wildfires burn nearby

An evacuation was ordered for the 140 residents of Wekwet Thursday afternoonas three wildfires burn nearby. Residents will be taken to Yellowknife.

Fred Behrens, the community's senior administrative officer, said the community has been under an evacuation order since Wednesday night, but that no planes were available to get residents out.

"Then it was to be reassessed today with crews coming in and bombers coming in," he said.

"Apparently, the wind, according to [the department of Environment and Climate Change] will be in unfavourable conditions for everyone, so we should get everyone out of town."

Behrenssaid residents started leaving the community at 1 p.m. on Thursday, in addition to the regularly scheduled 3 p.m. flight.

He added that depending on wind direction, there's a risk of one of the fires blocking airport access. Wekwetis accessible by road only during winter.

"That's more or less the reason for the evacuation," he said.

"Once that's blocked, well then still we can get to the airport by boat but, of course, that's not necessarily the easiest and best way to go."

Of the 140 community members, 47 have registered ahead of leaving. Others have registered to stay behind.

Behrens said the residents leaving plan to staywith family in Yellowknife.

The closest fire (ZF009) is about two kilometres from the community.

"ZF009 was initially assessed at 50 hectares in size but the situation is changing quickly," according to a Wednesday night update on the N.W.T Fire website.

"ZF009 is currently too intense to have crews fighting it on the ground, and so it is being attacked by air."

Sprinkler kits, additional equipment and staff, and more water bombers were expected to battle the fire on Thursday.

"We're going to be pushing very hard to manage that fire," said Mike Westwick, fire information officer with the territorial government.

He added that crews would be reassessing the severity of the fire throughout the day.

"We're expecting that this fire could continue to grow based on the conditions that we're seeing," he said.

The other two fires (ZF007 and ZF008) are on Snare Lake with wetlands between them and the community.

More fires in the North Slave region

A total of eight fires have flared up in the North Slave region over the last few days.

A human-caused fire on the north tip of Prosperous Lake is expected to be declaredout shortly.

One fire (ZF004) is about 14 kilometres north of Highway 3. Crew and tankers that initially responded have since beenpulled away to fight other fires.

Another fire (ZF010) is 26 kilometres north of Highway 3. Crew were expected to fight it Thursday as it moved further away from power lines.

A fire (ZF006) between Baptise Lake and Drygeese Lake had its crew and tanker diverted to Wekwet.

Finally, one fire (ZF005) is about four kilometres west of Short Point Lake and six kilometres northeast of Duckfish Lake. One crew and tanker are currently fighting it.

Fires ZF004, ZF005, ZF006 and ZF010 were all caused by lightning.