Hay River re-entry plan due Friday but dates will come later

Hay River is releasing a re-entry plan on Friday but will wait to fix firm dates because the fire outside the town is set to be “highly active” this weekend.

Residents should be able to see a plan by the end of Friday, the town stated on Facebook, though dates for each stage of re-entry “will not be confirmed until early next week.”

The town said it would wait for the weekend to pass before finalizing dates, in large part because the weekend weather forecast is poor.

“Our team is preparing for what could be a highly active fire weekend with near-record heat and unfavourable winds,” NWT Fire stated.

“It will be a test of our defences and progress toward securing the fire’s edge closest to town. There is potential for fire growth over this period.”

No rain is expected throughout the weekend.

So far, Hay River and Fort Smith residents have no return date. Their communities have been under evacuation orders for almost four weeks, and most residents are in Alberta.

Meanwhile, the list of structures destroyed by the vast South Slave wildfire threatening Hay River has grown.

NWT Fire said on Thursday that five more structures are now confirmed to have burned along areas of Highway 1, the main artery from Alberta into the territory, which passes south of Hay River.

The wildfire agency thinks all the damage occurred during the fire’s initial eastern sweep on August 13. Crews are only now able to conduct a thorough assessment of the full length of the highway.

Three more structures in the 6 Mile Creek area, west of Hay River, are also considered “confirmed lost,” damage NWT Fire attributed to the second major brush with the fire on August 25.

“Owners are being sought and informed” in all instances, the agency said. No further detail was available about the structures in question.