What is happening? I don’t ever remember a summer like this.
Seems like a different community is being evacuated every week. And it’s smoky just about every day. I’ve heard people say they’ll be glad when winter comes to get clean air. Eschia, take it easy eh!
In fact, we’ve had five communities evacuated due to fires this summer. In mid-May, Hay River Reserve was hit by fire and more than 3,000 people from there and from Hay River were evacuated to Yellowknife and other places. And that was after being evacuated last year because of the worst flood in memory. Definitely not cool.
At the end of May, Sambaa K’e was ordered to evacuate to Fort Simpson before the airport was threatened, as it is a fly-in community. They remained away from home for over a month.
At the end of June, Wekweeti was evacuated for about four or five days. Then on July 11, around 40 Elders and vulnerable people were evacuated from Tulita to Deline and Norman Wells.
Now Behchoko has been evacuated and fire has reached town as of Wednesday night, with at least three homes being destroyed in Rae. Edzo was still OK, but winds can change. Fingers crossed.
According to Fire NWT, six crews have been in and out of Rae cutting lines, putting sprinklers on and extinguishing spot fires to minimize damage. The Stagg River power station and the fibre optic line are still OK.
Evacuation hits hard
Tommy Lafferty is a resident of Behchoko who had to evacuate. He told me how it was really smoky on Monday and when he went to a meeting at 5 p.m., he was almost immediately told they had to evacuate.
He said his daughter was on the highway from Edmonton, so he waited for her and left around 11:30 p.m.. They had to stop at km 48, where there’s a turnout at the Tlicho sign and there were visible flames. They took pictures of the fire and they were amazed at how fast it moved.
Tommy said he saw a wildfire before at Yellowstone Park, but this was scarier. He felt the weight of his traditional territory being devastated, seeing hunting and trapping areas burning and knowing it might not usable for decades. Truly sad.
He’s the manager of occupational health and safety and he only got three or four hours of sleep that night and the next night. Lots of meetings, solving problems, and course lots and lots of phone calls from people looking for information or needing things.
Luckily, a lot of people had gone to Lac Ste. Anne, Alta., so there were fewer people to evacuate and to be housed and looked after in Yellowknife. Much of the leadership, including Grand Chief Jackson Lafferty, were down south but immediately returned and Tommy and everybody he talks to really appreciate this. It shows leadership’s commitment to the welfare of the Tlicho people. Right on!
Tommy says the Tlicho are used to adversity and this situation is showing how resilient the Tlicho leadership and people are. He says all of this will stay with people for a long time, and he is ready to help deal with it.
“If we have to rebuild, we will. It will make us stronger. Having the full support of Tlicho Government is very reassuring and makes us feel proud,” he said.
The Tlicho are very spiritual people and many, many people had gone to Lac Ste. Anne, including most of Tommy’s immediate family. This gave him less worries on a personal basis and likely made his job easier.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 1,050 people had registered at the evacuee centre at the Multiplex in Yellowknife. Once again, Yellowknifers are showing their true northern spirit by providing food, basic care needs, monetary donations and other things.
On Wednesday, mental health workers also helped organize a sharing circle, a beading workshop, a crib tournament and prayers, with about 150 people in attendance. Mental health workers are available daily for counselling and free reflexology was offered for Thursday. Yes!
The NWT has long enjoyed fresh air and been free from tornados, floods and overbearing heat, as has been hitting the United States lately. But, global warming is now hitting us with forest fires that threaten our communities and are causing smoke-filled air all summer.
I’m sure territorial, regional and community leaders are watching and will take proper steps to protect our communities better in the future.