Home is lost in race to protect Sambaa K’e, GNWT says

A Sambaa K’e home has burned down after an intentionally set fire designed to create a fire break went wrong, the NWT government says.

Crews have been using ignition operations – fires of their own that remove fuel from the ground – to prepare for a huge wildfire closing in from the south of the community.

But conditions keep making it hard to contain even the small fires used to create fire breaks, and the territorial government said a home was lost on Sunday night as a result.

“This is first and foremost a tragedy for a family. Our government will immediately begin work with the family that has lost their home to get them the help they need,” said Mike Westwick, a GNWT wildfire information officer, in a statement.

“We’re in the business of protecting people and property in the wildfire program, and it is deeply upsetting when things go wrong. 

“Our hearts go out to the homeowner and the community. Our team in Sambaa K’e will continue to work tirelessly and do everything they can to protect the community.”

Wildfire FS001, which is now more than 100 kilometres wide, was around 15 km south of Sambaa K’e as of Sunday. That fire is creating relentlessly extreme and smokey conditions, which have prevented extra firefighters from landing in the fly-in community.

But the situation has been complicated by a so-called “test fire” getting out of control.

Set on Thursday, the test fire was designed to demonstrate whether a larger controlled burn would work. But the test fire flared up over the weekend, the GNWT says, and has become a separate wildfire in its own right, burning across Sambaa K’e’s airstrip.

That new fire meant another fire break was needed to protect the community, with smoke preventing any aerial attack or assessment. So crews tried “an additional ignition operation … to remove fuels between the airstrip and community,” Westwick wrote.

“Conditions were right at the time it was initiated. However, after ignition, an unexpected thunderstorm moved through. With it came strong downdrafts, which quickly switched the wind direction nearly 180 degrees.

“This pushed the fire past the established control line near the start of the airstrip. Before it could be contained, it came close enough to the community to burn a home.

“This happened in a matter of minutes.”

The home involved was not specified.

Sambaa K’e is home to around 100 people. All but 10 of the community’s residents were evacuated to Fort Simpson by air last week, with the remainder staying to help fire crews.

Concerns have been expressed by some residents that the fight against the Sambaa K’e fire doesn’t have the same resources seen in action against wildfires threatening the Kátł’odeeche First Nation or Fort Chipewyan. The GNWT says fighting fires is “not a numbers game” and fire FS001 is so large and dangerous that only certain tactics are available. As of Sunday, 16 extra firefighters assigned to Sambaa K’e could not get there because of the smoke.

In an overnight statement, Westwick acknowledged that “visibility and heavy smoke have meant no additional support has been able to make it to the community for days, because aircraft have not been able to fly.”

He added: “Conditions in and around the community are extremely challenging. Nonetheless, our team will continue to work hard to protect the community.

“Structure protection is established for the majority of the community of Sambaa K’e and cabins at Island Lake. These are usually effective measures which have protected structures through many wildfires in the NWT.”