How can Fort Simpson better prepare for future evacuations?

As Fort Simpson residents settle back home following a wildfire, some are starting to think about what could be done differently should they face another evacuation.

Issues being raised include access to essentials if people remain in town, a plan for pets that can’t be evacuated, and how residents should be notified of an evacuation.

Tyler Pilling, the village’s director of protective services, said many aspects of the village’s 20-day evacuation went relatively smoothly, in part because residents had enough time to pack up and leave.

“It probably would have been very hectic if we only had a few hours, like some places have been given,” said Pilling, “but the 24 or so hours we had before things really kicked off was more than enough time to get people out on the ferry.”

Even so, he wishes the village had more staff to assist with administrative and communications tasks, so he could have provided more hands-on support with firefighting efforts.

He said he was involved in making what he described as unpopular decisions, like the length of the evacuation and the decision not to allow residents in less-affected areas to come home.

“With the amount of work that was being done in the community, we weren’t able to just let some people back and trust that they’d stay out of the way,” said Pilling.

He said people in those areas might have been tempted to check in on other areas for friends and family members.

“You’ve got upwards of 50 emergency vehicles ripping around up there, you’ve got equipment on almost every building. You’ve got dozens of aircraft flying overhead, dropping water, and trees falling down. It was just not a safe position to have people in.”

Another decision that he said received some criticism was to close the village’s grocery store to everyone except some essential workers.

He said when a state of local emergency is declared by a community government, stores are usually closed.

“Every other business in town was closed except the ones that were working under the incident,” said Pilling.

He said keeping the store open for long hours – sometimes needed to serve people actively involved in fighting the fire – put pressure on the limited number of staff who stayed.

“There will be no guarantee any stores will be available for residents. All provisions will be for emergency services personnel,” a June 29 notice issued by the village stated.

“Power services may be disrupted. Trucked water and pump-out services will not be available … If you remain in town, there will be no support.”

Mayor of Fort Simpson Les Wright said wristbands were distributed during the evacuation to identify essential workers to store staff.

“It just had to happen,” Wright said.

“They couldn’t have normal working hours because it was not a normal time. There was an emergency going on. Everybody who wasn’t essential was asked to leave at the beginning, and some services weren’t available at all times.”

Wright said he had still seen some people without wristbands access the store during the evacuation without issue – though that wasn’t always the case.

Troy Bellefontaine, a village councillor, stayed in the village during the evacuation to care for pets that had been left in the community, some of which had been boarded at his partner’s kennel.

When he saw online that the Northern Store would be closed to the public, Bellefontaine said he drove to the grocery store to try to get more information.

“The front doors were locked, so I went to the gas bar entrance where there was a notice listing the people and organizations that were still allowed inside,” said Bellefontaine.

He was not on that list. Nor was he sure who was responsible for creating the list or how to be added.

Bellefontaine said he was lucky to have freezers full of food, but power outages caused by the wildfire meant a lot of it had to be thrown away.

He was able to take some supplies to his short-term rental property on Fort Simpson’s island, where he stayed for most of the evacuation.

He said there are a number of reasons why people might have stayed in the community despite the evacuation order.

“It could be because they had pets. It could be family members they were worried about. But whatever the reason, there were people here,” said Bellefontaine.

“I didn’t think it was right to deny people food if we have food here.”

He said he wouldn’t encourage anyone to stay in the village during an evacuation, but some people did. He said it felt “punitive” to deny those people essential goods.

“It makes me think of that Dolly Parton quote: ‘We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails,'” said Bellefontaine.

“We cannot change that people stayed in the community but, finding that there are people here, we can adjust the way we interact with them to make life easier for everybody going through this together.”

During the evacuation, Wright explained, the ferry was still operational and so resupply trucks could regularly arrive to stock the store.

He said that to his knowledge, everyone who decided to stay had stocked up on critical supplies.

“They knew this was going to happen, so they got their essentials in order,” said Wright.

Pets and notices

Bellefontaine said some people may have remained as they could not take their pets on evacuation flights, nor have them inside the Yellowknife multiplex that had been designated as emergency accommodation.

He said to better prepare for future evacuations, there should be a plan for pets that can’t leave.

This time, he said, some dogs were let loose in the village, which he worried could have put the animals in danger and disrupted firefighting operations.

At one point, Bellefontaine said, a dog was placed in his care after it had been picked up by firefighters and given to the RCMP.

Initially, he drove around town checking in on animals that had been left behind, while avoiding parts of town where firefighting operations were under way. Soon, several people doing the same thing were coordinating their efforts and bringing dogs to a central location to provide more efficient care.

Bellefontaine said he and two other volunteers asked the district education authority for permission to keep dogs in the high school’s yard, while donations from the NWT SPCA and Fort Simpson Kennels helped.

“Looking back, the experience highlighted how important community volunteers were in filling a gap that naturally exists during an emergency,” said Bellefontaine.

“The focus during an evacuation must remain on protecting people and property, but having a plan that also coordinates the care of animals would make future emergency responses even more effective – and provide peace of mind for pet owners who have to leave the community without their animals.”

He said he planned to raise these issues once the village council meets again.

Wright said a plan to manage pets left behind wouldn’t be needed as volunteers stepped up to the task.

“I think during emergencies we should be concentrating on people, on the public,” said the mayor.

“The dogs, they were well taken care of here … It just happened. Everybody did a little bit. The firefighters went over. They had a couple from town that were feeding and watering. There was a councillor that went there. Everybody did a little bit to help the animals.

“I don’t think anybody’s got a plan to deal with animals when they’re in an emergency. Yellowknife didn’t have a plan when they evacuated, that was all volunteer work.”

Wright did say he would not want dogs to be let loose, acknowledging the hazards they could pose.

Review of response

Speaking as residents were returning home, Wright said the village would review how the evacuation went and what could be improved if they were in a similar situation in the future.

That review will include feedback from everyone involved, including incident command, the territory’s Department of Environment and Climate Change, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, the NWT Power Corporation and the Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation.

Wright gave the example of the way the evacuation order was shared with community members as an example of something that might be done differently next time.

He said some people didn’t receive the notification for various reasons, such as not having Facebook or being asleep when the order was published.

“Maybe next time we’ll go around and have an audible siren or something like that to give everybody the heads up – just make it more announced,” said Wright.

From a prevention perspective, Pilling said he’d like to see more community members apply Firesmart principles to their properties.

“I think engaging with homeowners more directly on Firesmart initiatives from multiple angles would have been pretty useful,” said Pilling.

“I’m not sure if everyone would have listened, but if even one of the people who ended up losing some of their stuff to the fire had been kind of swayed or informed by that, it probably would have been worth it.”