Norman Wells comes together to support Fort Good Hope wildfire evacuees

Community members in Norman Wells have sprung into action to support those displaced by wildfire VQ001-24, which led to the evacuation of Fort Good Hope on Saturday evening.

Norman Wells Mayor Frank Pope said that when evacuees began arriving at around 8pm on Saturday, they were greeted with a warm meal before they settled into their accommodations.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are being served to evacuees on Sunday at the Mackenzie Mountain School (MMS) where activities such as music, colouring and movies also available.

Pope said that the Norman Wells Food Bank has contributed funds to help get support efforts underway. “We’ve got good, nutritious food for everybody, and that seems to be working quite well,” said Pope.

However, the town is looking for volunteers to help with site security, cleaning, and prepping food at the evacuation centre.

“We had a good bunch of volunteers over the last couple of days but remember, Norman Wells is a working town so a lot of people will be going back to work tomorrow so we’re on the lookout now for volunteers looking to do some cooking and just help us around the community while we’re looking after these folks from Fort Good Hope,” said Pope.

Anyone who is able to help can drop by the community hall.

Support for evacuees with pets

On Saturday evening, Norman Wells resident Kelsey Henderson posted to a Norman Wells Facebook group asking if any of the evacuees were in need of pet supplies.

The post quickly received several comments from people who needed supplies themselves, knew someone who did, or who had items to donate.

Henderson lived in Kelowna, BC, until her own home burned down in a wildfire last summer.

“I know when you’re evacuating there’s a lot of panic and you tend to forget things you need ’cause you just sort of start grabbing at things … so we’ll work on making sure everyone has what they need, including for all the bubs coming into town,” wrote Henderson in a text message.

She is putting together a pet registry so that she can make sure that the recently-arrived animals and their humans have the supplies they need.

“We all kind of are just figuring out where we can help,” wrote Henderson.

Anyone in need of items or who has supplies to donate can get in touch with Henderson at 250-327-0608.

Support for those with children

Norman Wells resident Christine Turner posted to Facebook saying she’d be opening the Kids’ Free Store located on her property for anyone in need of children’s clothing.

According to the post, the store offers free clothing and shoes for children from preemie sizes to size six, with some sizes seven to 16.

A ‘tight situation’ in Norman Wells

Mayor Pope said that Norman Wells itself is in a “tight situation” because water levels in the Mackenzie River and elsewhere are too low for barges to deliver supplies such as fuel and food this summer.

“With all these water bombers and all that extra aircraft around, our fuel supply could take a beating,” said Pope. “We don’t want to empty our stores and groceries right now, but as Good Hope and their folks need help, we’ll still make it available to them. That’s the best we can do to help them all we can.”

Pope said that he’s also suggested to the GNWT that the Red Cross might be helpful in bringing in more supplies for everyone in need.

“They’d be a great asset to what we’re trying to do,” said Pope.

On Sunday morning, the GNWT confirmed that it had evacuated 240 people from Fort Good Hope to Norman Wells following the fire evacuation order. When Norman Wells reached capacity, an evacuation centre was also set up in Délı̨nę.

High school exams to go ahead as planned at MMS

High school exams will go ahead at MMS as planned, and students are asked to use the library doors or back doors to enter and exit the school while the gym is being used by the public until further notice.

“This decision was made in recognition that many families don’t have access to childcare and as such wouldn’t be able to participate in aiding evacuees if the school was closed,” explained the school on Facebook, saying keeping the school open may help provide a sense of normalcy for students. 

If people do not want to send their children to school right now, they are asked to notify the school office.