WILDFIRE THREATENING REMOTE NWT COMMUNITY KEEPS GROWING, BUT WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO PUSH FLAMES AWAY

This article was written by the Canadian Press and was published in the Globe & Mail on June 18, 2024.

A wildfire that forced the evacuation of a remote community in the Northwest Territories continued to grow Monday, but high winds were expected to push flames away from the town.

Fire officials said warmer temperatures threatened to increase fire activity near Fort Good Hope. The weather was expected to remain the same Tuesday, with no rain expected over the next couple of days.

The community was told to evacuate Saturday, when the fire was less than two kilometres away. It later reached the town.

The out-of-control blaze grew Sunday night to more than 13 square kilometres from nine square kilometres.

“We haven’t lost any houses, any buildings,” Fort Good Hope

Chief Collin Pierrot told a briefing.

Just more than 100 of the community’s 500 residents have stayed back to help with fire suppression, he added.

The territory was also sending additional fire crews to the area. Those on the ground were patrolling the perimeter and attacking hot spots. Air tankers and helicopters were also dropping retardant and water buckets to slow growth of the fire.

Most evacuees were sent south to Norman Wells, while others moved to a nearby fish camp and the Dene community of Deline.

The territory said it doesn’t have a timeline for when residents might be able to return home.

Author: Ray Nakano

Ray is a retired, third generation Japanese Canadian born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario. He resides in Toronto where he worked for the Ontario Government for 28 years. Ray was ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh in 2011 and practises in the Plum Village tradition, supporting sanghas in their mindfulness practice. Ray is very concerned about our climate crisis. He has been actively involved with the ClimateFast group (https://climatefast.ca) for the past 5 years. He works to bring awareness of our climate crisis to others and motivate them to take action. He has created the myclimatechange.home.blog website, for tracking climate-related news articles, reports, and organizations. He has created mobilizecanada.ca to focus on what you can do to address the climate crisis. He is always looking for opportunities to reach out to communities, politicians, and governments to communicate about our climate crisis and what we need to do. He says: “Our world is in dire straits. We have to bend the curve on our heat-trapping pollutants in the next few years if we hope to avoid the most serious impacts of human-caused global warming. Doing nothing is not an option. We must do everything we can to create a livable future for our children, our grandchildren, and all future generations.”