NWT better prepared to face this year’s wildfires, premier says

On the heels of the NWT’s worst wildfire season on record, the territory’s premier says his government is better prepared to tackle this year’s challenging season.

“There’s understandably a lot of anxiety among the population,” RJ Simpson said at a wildfire briefing on Tuesday afternoon.

“One of the reasons I wanted to run again – and run for premier, actually – was because of this issue, because of our emergency response. I wanted to ensure that attention was paid to it, that we learned lessons from last year. And so I feel much more confident going into this fire season than last fire season.”

Simpson said his government “will do everything it can to support NWT residents before, during and after emergency events,” and stressed the importance of collaboration between different levels of government.

While a review of the territory’s 2023 emergency response isn’t expected to be complete until November, Simpson said the NWT government has already made improvements.

He said those improvements include training and bringing on wildfire crews earlier in the season, as well as earlier maintenance and refurbishment of equipment.

Communications have been improved, he added, as has the ability of government departments to continue operating during evacuations.

Simpson said the territory is also better informed about how wildfires operate.

“Last year was very unique,” he said. “We had extreme drought conditions and I know a lot of firefighters with a lot of experience had never seen fires behave that way.”

New payment program for evacuees

The territory is planning to roll out a new emergency evacuation relief program, Simpson said, learning from the challenges that faced the financial support programs the NWT offered to evacuees last year.

The premier said the new, single program will provide a one-time payment of $800 to residents aged 18 years and older and $400 for each dependent under the age of 18 affected by an evacuation.

“It’s very simple. In the coming days – I expect later this week or perhaps early next week – the full program will roll out,” he said.

Emily King, director of the territory’s emergency management organization, said one of the biggest lessons learned from last year was how to increase staff capacity during emergencies. She said the territory trained staff over the spring and winter and the communications team had recently pulled in two extra staff to help.

Wildfire information officer Mike Westwick said the territory’s wildfire agency has been working closely with communities to educate them about measures to reduce the risk of wildfire damage to homes, infrastructure and communities

“Since last season, there’s been a whole lot of people taking leadership in their neighbourhoods and within their own homes to take firesmart action,” he said.

“Here in Fort Liard, every single night we go back to the staff house to go to sleep, there’s more and more brush on the driveway. And the hamlet here, with the First Nation, is running a chipping program to help support folks with that.”

Situation so far

So far this year, 13 wildfires have burned a total of 1,864 hectares in the territory and five are still burning. Many of those fires are holdovers from last year’s historic season.

Wildfire damage has already caused connectivity issues in the territory and beyond. NWT Fire has said two structures were destroyed by a fire burning between the Fort Providence and Highway 7 junctions.

Westwick said on Tuesday that fire, which began near Redknife River, had grown significantly and crossed the Mackenzie River to the north. He said fire crews were focused on protecting cabins and other infrastructure along the highway.

Fort Liard remains on evacuation notice, meaning residents should be prepared to leave. Various wildfires are threatening the hamlet’s road access to other communities should an evacuation be necessary, complicating planning.

Westwick said work from the air and on the ground has been successful in holding the Fort Liard fire back from reaching the eastern shore of the Liard River. He said the territory is working with the Acho Dene Koe First Nation on response and planning.

King said a staff member from the territory’s emergency management organization had travelled to Fort Liard with a Starlink dish to support communication efforts.

She said both the territorial and the Dehcho regional emergency management organizations are assessing road and air-based evacuation options, as well as potential host communities should residents have to leave.