Wildfire damage to a fibre line running north from Fort Nelson has caused cell and internet outages in communities across the NWT, northern BC and Yukon.
There were reports of issues in NWT communities ranging from Inuvik to Nahanni Butte on Friday evening. Inuvik’s fire department, for example, said its communications were disrupted.
An internal NWT government notification stated that telecoms provider Northwestel had reported a cut fibre line “impacting services to Inuvik, Norman Wells, Wrigley and Fort Good Hope.”
In a statement shortly after 10pm, Northwestel told Cabin Radio: “Active fires in the NWT and BC have damaged telecommunications infrastructure, causing a disruption to internet, phone and mobility services in Yukon, northern BC, Mackenzie Valley and Beaufort Delta regions of the NWT.
“We are closely monitoring the situation and working to restore connectivity as soon as possible.”
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Northwestel technicians are understood to have told key customers that the issue is the loss of the company’s main fibre line between Fort Nelson and Patry Lake.
Fort Nelson was evacuating on Friday night over the threat of nearby fires, and highways leading north to the NWT had been closed all day.
NWT Fire told Cabin Radio it had switched to using the likes of Starlink and satellite phones to coordinate its operations in affected areas.
The wildfire agency said a non-profit Christian radio station operated by Edmonton-based CIAM Media in Fort Liard is being used to keep residents updated, as the hamlet has also been hit by communications issues.
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Elsewhere, Fort Providence residents reported slow cell service and an almost community-wide power outage.
The GNWT said 9-1-1 service had been affected.
“If you can’t reach local emergency services, please go directly to the RCMP detachment or health centre,” the territory told residents.
The City of Yellowknife gave two cell numbers for people to reach fire and ambulance service with landlines disrupted: 867-688-0462 or 867-686-3653.
Fires along highways were the cause of several major communications outages in the NWT last year, including one that took out virtually all connectivity to Hay River and Fort Smith for nearly a week as those towns evacuated.
Increasingly, NWT residents and organization have been adopting Starlink to ensure there’s a means of communicating when fibre lines go down.
Chief Kele Antoine of the Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation was among the first residents to report a loss of cell and internet service in Fort Simpson late on Friday.
Several residents said they lost connectivity shortly before 9pm.
