Fort Liard lifts evacuation notice after rain helps firefighters

Fort Liard is no longer under an evacuation notice, the NWT government said on Wednesday as the risk from a nearby wildfire diminished.

The hamlet originally declared an evacuation notice on May 10 over a wildfire southwest of the community.

Evacuation notice is the first of three stages. It can be upgraded to an evacuation alert and then an order if a situation worsens.

In this case, sustained action from firefighters and recent rain have helped to reduce the threat posed by wildfire FS002, 19 km to the southwest across the Liard River.

“The community of Fort Liard has lifted their evacuation notice. This means there is reduced risk to the community due to wildfire,” the GNWT stated at 2pm on Wednesday.

“A fire ban remains in place for the Dehcho region on all public and private lands through May 24, 2024 and may be extended if necessary.

“Recognizing continuing drought conditions, we will continue to urge caution for anyone using fire, and continue to assess the fire environment to determine whether any additional steps should be taken to prevent human-caused wildfires.”

A signed copy of the evacuation notice had been taken down from the hamlet’s website.

On Tuesday, NWT Fire said “meaningful rain” had fallen with more wet weather forecast for the remainder of the day. The weather forecast for the hamlet suggests more showers could occur later on Wednesday.

NWT Fire said that was “very good news for firefighting efforts” and allowed crews to keep working against the fire.

Crews from across the territory have been joined by firefighters from the Yukon. The fire remains out of control but hasn’t moved closer to Fort Liard in the past week.

More broadly, NWT Fire said “extremely dry days are ahead” for much of the territory, urging residents not to become complacent after recent rain and cooler weather.

“Fire danger is at or expected to reach high or extreme in most areas of the North Slave, South Slave, and Dehcho over the next three days,” the wildfire agency stated on Wednesday afternoon.

“Under these conditions, fires can start easily, spread quickly, and become extremely difficult to control.”

Meanwhile, Parks Canada said eight of the 10 fires within Wood Buffalo National Park are now considered to be under control and one has been extinguished.

“Additional fire crews and the Parks Canada Incident Management Team that were in place have returned home,” the federal agency reported on Wednesday.

Two helicopters and 25 personnel will remain to “continue assessing and responding to wildfires within the park.”