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Pehdzéh Kı̨ First Nation Chief Jamie Moses says he hopes strong winds anticipated in Wrigley on Friday will bring some rain to help firefighting efforts near the community.
Wrigley has been evacuated since the end of June and for the past several days, FS015 has remained about five kilometres away from the community, NWT Fire stated in its latest update on Thursday evening.
“We’re expecting some strong winds today, so the backburn just on the north side of the community along Hodgson Creek, they’re just going to continue strengthening up that black line,” said Moses.
“Further up the creek – the southern flank – they are going to keep bucketing that for the time being, and basically we’re going to wait and see what happens with the wind that’s expected here.”
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Intense rain began to fall in parts of the Sahtu region on Thursday night and Moses says he hopes Wrigley might catch some of that moisture.
Rain is forecast for much of the day on Friday and Saturday, according to Environment Canada.
The chief said about 14 workers have stayed in Wrigley to assist fire crews with access to water, gas and other essentials.
On Tuesday, a “carefully planned” intentional fire was set north of Wrigley in a bid to protect the community.
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“They brought the fire right up into Hodgson Creek, which is just on the north side of town, and that went well,” said Moses.
“We’re hanging in there pretty good. People are still motivated and still giving ‘er every day. We’re doing what we can.”
In Thursday evening’s update, NWT Fire said smoke and the possibility of falling trees may prevent aircraft from flying on Friday.
“Pilots are taking any opportunity when it’s safe to drop water on any new hotspots created by the fire,” the update stated.
