‘Big day of assessment’ for Wrigley wildfire, officials say

FS015, a wildfire burning near Wrigley that triggered a community evacuation on Monday, has seen minimal fire activity thanks to rain, NWT Fire officials said a day later.

“Today is a big day of assessment, reassessing strategy after a few really big days and a rain event,” said Mike Westwick, a fire information officer, on Tuesday.

Westwick said about 11 millimetres of rain fell on FS015. The rain provides crews “a good opportunity to get some good work done in that area,” Westwick said.

While the fire has remained 12 kilometres from the community since it was detected on June 26, Westwick said there are concerns that if winds shift to the northwest, they could push the fire toward the community.

In a Facebook post at 11am on Tuesday, Chief Jamie Moses of the Pehdzéh Kı̨ First Nation said the fire is expected to remain in the hills north of the community over the next 72 hours.

“We’ve got a situation we need to handle. It remains a challenging situation that we’re going to be managing for the long term,” said Westwick. He said the fire has a large perimeter and is more than 13,000 hectares in size.

Westick said fire crews are prioritizing “proactively preparing structure protection within the community,” starting with Wrigley’s north end. Firefighters will also widen existing fire breaks.

“I know this is a tough situation being displaced from home, but there are still things to be grateful for such as Fort Smith graciously being our host and a little bit of rain,” said Moses in a Facebook post at 1pm.

On Monday evening, Moses said only 58 people remained in Wrigley and they were setting up a camp outside the community “in case we have to evacuate.”

On Tuesday, he encouraged evacuees in Fort Smith to enjoy Canada Day and not worry about their homes.

“We will be looking after them and feeding your pets,” Moses said.

“This is a really difficult time for the people of Wrigley, really difficult time for people in the Northwest Territories,” said Westwick.

“I just want to assure residents that we’re going to do everything we can to get people home soon and get them home safe.”