Whatì moves to evacuation alert over threat from wildfire ZF048

Whatì has moved to an evacuation alert over the threat from a wildfire southwest of the community.

Evacuation alert is the second level of a three-tier system – above evacuation notice, where Whatì had been since Monday, but below an evacuation order.

“This is currently an alert to prepare,” read an advisory shared to a private Facebook group for Whatì residents shortly after 12:30pm on Wednesday. About 600 people live in the community.

“Residents of Whatì should be ready to evacuate on short notice due to a wildfire in the area,” the advisory continued.

“If you need to evacuate, an order will be issued with further information.”

Residents were also directed to the NWT government’s public safety page for updates. The NWT Alert system issued an evacuation alert at 2:13pm.

NWT Fire told Cabin Radio fire ZF048 “saw four kilometres of growth overnight under strong southerly winds,” triggering the alert.

“Winds continue to come from the south, but are lighter than yesterday. Visibility is extremely poor and we are hitting it with air tankers whenever safe,” fire information officer Dana Bowen stated at 2:30pm.

“The community protection work is under way, focusing on neighborhoods at the edge of the community and critical infrastructure. The local fire department is actively engaged and is setting up a perimeter wetline at the community’s bypass road running to the lake. This is intended to provide additional water coverage.

“Tomorrow, winds are expected to come from the North, which could turn the fire back on itself.”

Data from satellite hotspot tracking website Firms suggests hotspots are about seven kilometres from the community of Whatì’s airstrip at their closest point, based on a satellite pass late on Tuesday evening.

The Tłı̨chǫ Government told residents to head to Whatì’s culture centre to fill out pre-evacuation registration forms, “especially if you or your family will need assistance with transportation and temporary accommodations” in the event that an evacuation is ordered.