Residents help battle blazes
Wekweeti chief and others battle smoke while refuelling sprinklers
Kassina Ryder
Northern News Services
Published Monday, July 21, 2014
TLICHO REGION
People in Wekweeti had managed to stay calm while a forest fire raged near their community - until night fell on July 12, says the community's foreman.
Clarence Nasken said that night, people watched as the fire ravaged the forest across the lake. He said that's when residents began to fear sparks could ignite trees and homes in the community.
"You could see the flames across the lake more clearly. People were panicking that it might jump," he said. "Everybody was always looking out their windows, staying up in the middle of the night."
Before fire crews left that weekend, they had performed a controlled burn and set up sprinklers near the entrance to the winter road on the other side of the lake, Nesken said. The goal was to protect some old graves and historic monuments at the site, as well as to try and prevent flames from sending sparks over the lake.
Nasken said on Saturday night and early Sunday morning, the smoke was so thick in Wekweeti that concerns began to rise.
"That was when people got scared because we got covered with smoke," he said.
Nasken said early Sunday morning he, Chief Johnny Arrowmaker and resident George Kodzin decided to go across the lake and make sure the sprinkler pumps were still working.
"We had to go check on the pump because the wind was blowing, it was so smoky," he said. "We were scared it might jump if the pumps were off."
Nasken said it's lucky they checked when they did.
"It ran out of fuel," he said. "We went to check on it and sure enough, it was off."
Nasken said the three men worked quickly to get the pumps running again while beating back flames and breathing smoke.
"We did a little bit of firefighting," he said. "We were inhaling smoke, too. We were kind of getting exhausted."
Nasken said they maintained radio contact with the community and asked for help. About eight residents answered their call.
"They were experienced with fire fighting because in the past they fought fires before," he said. "They were a big help. They came right in time."
Nasken said a thunderstorm on July 15 helped extinguish much of the fire. He said the community's evacuation plan is two-fold. If smoke creates poor visibility and planes can't land at the airport, residents will be instructed to take a road near the airport that leads to the culture camp.
If people can't take the road, boats have been co-ordinated to take people eastward on the lake toward the barrenlands.
"There are hardly any trees plus there was no forest fire that way," he said. "So in case of evacuation, if we had to go by boat, we would go to a place where they could come pick us up by helicopter."
Lisa Nitsiza, senior administrative officer trainee in Whati, said smoke in the community was the biggest worry for residents. Smoke conditions were particularly bad on July 14.
"We had quite a bit of heavy smoke at one point where we actually had ashes," she said. "The wind would shift and it would come and go. In the evenings there would be quite a bit more smoke than during the day."
Nitsiza said the community had a communication strategy in the event of an evacuation. First, someone was chosen to make announcements on the local radio station. Next, a truck equipped with a microphone and a loud speaker would be dispatched to drive the community's streets providing updates. Nitsiza said door-to-door announcements would be made for elders or those who weren't able to leave their homes.
Residents would gather at the cultural centre and the arena until an evacuation was ordered by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.
She said because the fire was burning north of the community, evacuating by boat wouldn't be an option. She said the evacuation plan states residents would be flown out of the community, either to Yellowknife or Behchoko.
Nitsiza also said rain last week diminished the fire's threat.
Rain near Gameti also helped to reduce both the risk of fire and smoke in the community last week, as well as a controlled burn, said SAO Judal Dominicata.
"Gameti is now good," he said.
He said Gameti's evacuation plan involved removing residents by boat or by plane, depending on fire conditions.
Judal said now that the fire is under control, he wanted to thank firefighters who have been working throughout the community and the territory.
No high alerts or evacuation orders were put in place in Gameti, Wekweeti or Whati during the course of the fires, according to MACA.
