Lots of fire growth overnight, NWT Fire says

The NWT’s wildfire agency says there was lots of fire growth over Saturday night but the threat to Whatì and Jean Marie River remains unchanged.

On Sunday morning, wildfire information officer Mike Westwick told Cabin Radio that, due to strong winds, the west flank of fire FS014 had grown approximately 14km to the south.

NWT Fire said crews were able to hold the southeast flank of the fire.

Westwick said it was “a pretty scary night” for residents of Jean Marie River but fire suppression efforts prevented the fire from reaching the community on Saturday night.

NWT Fire said fire FS014 remains 15km northwest of Jean Marie River and 22km southeast of Fort Simpson and threat levels for the communities have not changed.

Tthets’éhk’édélı̨ First Nation issued a fresh evacuation notice for Jean Marie River on Saturday afternoon.

Westwick said that remains “the appropriate level of preparedness” for the community.

“There’s no immediate threat to the community of Jean Marie River and that’s really good news,” he said.

Westwick said winds over the next couple of days are expected to be favourable and not anticipated to push the fire toward Jean Marie River.

NWT Fire said there is “significant activity” on the northewast corner of the fire closest to the Mackenzie River. It said that could continue under expected southerly winds which could cause the fire to grow to the east and north.

Fire remains 7km from Whatì airport

In the North Slave region, NWT Fire said ZF048 fire grew to 29,0000 hectares on Saturday but remains 7km from Whatì’s airport and 8km from the community’s most populated areas.

Whatì remains under an evacuation order and Tłı̨chǫ Highway 9 remains closed to northbound traffic headed toward the community.

Westwick said at its closest point, the fire is 12km from the highway.

He said throughout Sunday, favourable northerly winds are expected, structure protection in the community remains in place and sprinklers are being run regularly.

Westwick added that fire crews are exploring opportunities for an ignition operation to the south of Whatì to cut off the fire’s potential spread toward the community.

In a subsequent update on Sunday afternoon, NWT Fire said air drops are being made on the fire’s north and east flanks to reduce intensity and slow potential growth toward Whatì.

Heavy equipment is being used to create fuel breaks behind residential neighbourhors at the north of the community.

The wildfire agency said a direct attack with crews is currently unsafe and would be ineffective due to the size of the fire front and expected weather conditions.

The fire is not expected to reach the community on Sunday or Monday given expected weather conditions.

NWT Fire said Tuesday “may be a critical day” as temperatures are expected to reach 20 degrees, levels of moisture may begin to fall and winds are forecast to switch to the south.

Westwick said there was a significant flare up near Snare Lake on Saturday and the fire came close to the hydro dam but air tankers were able to slow its growth and prevent damage to infrastructure.