Fort Simpson fire: Wind helping, chief says, with more crews coming

The Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation’s chief says favourable winds are helping and more firefighters are on the way as Fort Simpson remains on evacuation alert.

Shortly before 5pm on Saturday, Chief Kele Antoine said fire FS016 was six to seven kilometres from the entrance to the Four Mile access road outside the village.

“Current wind conditions continue to work in our favour, although very warm temperatures are expected over the next several days,” Chief Antoine wrote.

Antoine said three crews, four helicopters and a tanker group already tackling the fire are set to be joined by 50 to 60 extra personnel in the next two days, including a crew from Łútsël K’é, two from the Yukon and an incident management team from BC.

On Saturday evening, NWT Fire said FS016 had not meaningfully advanced since it was detected. No major change in its behaviour or crews’ response was reported. No related losses have been documented.

In an earlier call with Cabin Radio, fire information officer Thomas Bentham said initial efforts to attack the fire had been successful and it had seen only “limited growth” to the north and east – toward the village and its airport.

Air tankers and helicopters spent Saturday dropping water along the fire’s perimeter.

Hay River has sent a specialist wildland-urban interface crew to help protect the community, Bentham said.

The evacuation alert remains in place. Fort Simpson Mayor Les Wright, in a Facebook post, said the alert will be extended daily “until the threat is eliminated” with updates from the village at 10am and 5pm.

The NWT’s health authority said it had relocated long-term care residents from Fort Simpson to Yellowknife’s Łiwegoatì Building as a precautionary measure.

Fort Simpson’s volunteer fire service, meanwhile, is working with the Hay River unit in the Wild Rose area of the village to protect buildings.

“Crews may be working in and around private yards and properties as they assess and prepare homes to help protect them if fire conditions change,” the fire service stated.

“These activities are precautionary and are being carried out to improve community preparedness.”

FS016 grew quickly on Friday after a storm rolled over the Fort Simpson area.

The sequence of events was striking to some residents, who experienced a large dump of rain from the storm before being told they were on evacuation alert. The village is in an area considered “abnormally dry” in drought terms.

The Village of Fort Simpson’s latest advice, on Facebook, instructs residents to pre-register for a possible evacuation using this GNWT form. Registration was also taking place at the village recreation centre as of 11am on Saturday.

Organizers of a Run for Reading literacy and recreation event due to take place in the village on Saturday said they had postponed it. A hide camp due to start on Monday is also postponed.

A hot weekend was forecast in Fort Simpson, though Environment Canada’s forecast changed slightly overnight.

Federal forecasters now expect weekend highs of 32C – a little cooler than previously predicted, if still very warm – with the prospect of isolated showers on both days.

Further thunderstorms aren’t out of the question, with forecasters assessing a minor risk of more unsettled weather in the region on Saturday.