Hay River says no damage to homes in Monday morning wildfire update

As of Monday morning, the Hay River-KFN wildfire had not impacted any Hay River homes or buildings.

The update, which came via the Town of Hay River’s Facebook page shortly before 10am, continued that while there were “a few flare ups last night” the Hay River Fire Department was able to handle them.

RCMP are continuing to monitor the community and the road into town is currently blocked.

It remains unsafe for residents to return, as high winds and direction changes are expected throughout the day. There are also no amenities or health services available as the town was fully evacuated late on Sunday night.

Rain is expected off and on from Monday afternoon until Tuesday morning, which the territorial government said on its wildfire updates webpage may bring “limited relief,” though “extreme conditions will continue to challenge firefighting efforts.”

Kátł’odeeche First Nation provided a nearly identical update to Hay River at 10:30am on Monday, which did not include any information specific to the status of the reserve’s buildings which were believed to have been affected.

The NWT government had said overnight it was “highly likely that the fire has breached the community of the Kátł’odeeche First Nation with damage to structures.”

More: Timeline, photos and video: KFN and Hay River wildfire

The fire grew from nothing to more than 65 hectares in size over the course of Sunday. East winds pushed the fire toward the First Nation and Hay River, ultimately driving it to jump the river late in the evening, triggering a full evacuation order for Hay River at 11pm.

Hundreds of evacuees have headed north to Yellowknife, with others seeking refuge in South Slave and Dehcho communities.

Yellowknife has opened its multiplex as a shelter for evacuees with nowhere else to go.

More follows.