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The NWT government has extended a state of emergency declared to combat its wildfire crisis until at least early October.
The territory has kept a state of emergency activated since August 15. That will continue until October 2 at the earliest for the South Slave, the GNWT said in a statement on Tuesday.
By law, the state of emergency must be either dropped or renewed every two weeks.
Declaring a state of emergency gives communities minister Shane Thompson extra powers to “acquire and deploy the necessary resources to support the management of this unprecedented wildfire season and protect the health and safety of NWT residents,” in the GNWT’s words.
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The renewal until early October is needed because of “efforts needed to manage the ongoing wildfire season” in the South Slave, the territory stated.
While Hay River, Kátł’odeeche First Nation and Fort Smith residents were allowed home in recent days, the hamlet of Enterprise remains under an evacuation order.
Enterprise has set a tentative return date of Friday this week, though many homes were destroyed in an August wildfire.
Huge fires still burn across the South Slave and are expected to continue doing so well into winter.
