Advertisement.
For the first time, a home has been confirmed lost to the wildfire burning in and around the Fort Simpson area.
More than 100 firefighters have spent days constantly patrolling subdivisions south of the main village to try to hold back fire FS016 from individual houses.
However, on Monday morning, Chief Kele Antoine of the Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation confirmed an Atco trailer-style home had been lost in the Nogha Heights area near the Highway 1 Wrigley turn-off.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
The news a home had been lost was first reported by the CBC, which reported the loss occurred on Saturday night.
Fort Simpson has been under an evacuation order for just over a week.
On Friday, FS016 burned across Highway 1 and into residential subdivisions south of the central village island.
For the most part, crews working around the clock have been able to protect homes even as the fire burned through wooded areas around them, though some outbuildings are also reported lost.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
The village renewed its local state of emergency on Sunday. There is no timeline for residents to return home, with officials saying the fire is expected to remain a challenge for weeks.
No rain to help
Fire information officer Forrest Tower said crews had been able to stop one burned home turning into many, where each lights the next on fire.
“Luckily we avoided that, but now the really challenging work is there is fire burning in the ground throughout that residential area,” Tower told Cabin Radio on Monday morning.
“There has been no rain, so there’s essentially no suppression from rain in terms of diminishing fire behaviour. It’s really fire engines and structural protection people going around and still finding active fires.
“In consideration of how active that fire burnt over that community, and that there’s still fire there, I would say it’s pretty astounding that there’s been only one primary residence lost.”
Describing firefighters’ efforts as a “continual fight,” Tower said crews are nowhere near the stage of mopping up. Instead, he said, active firefighting continues.
“I think, for expectations on timelines in that area, several days of active firefighting” are still required in neighbourhoods south of the main village, Tower said. “They are doing their absolute best.”
