Maria Canton
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 20/99) - Residents of Edzo were allowed to return to their homes Wednesday night after an out of control forest fire came within a kilometre of the community, forcing them to flee for a day and a half.

A lightning strike ignited the fire at 3 p.m. Tuesday, and shifting winds brought intense heat and smoke near the townsite.

The Emergency Measures Organization and the RCMP started a mass evacuation of the hamlet before suppertime and a state of emergency was called by 6 p.m.

"When we went in to get people to leave, they could feel the heat outside their doors," said Cpl. Mark Wharton of the Rae-Edzo detachment.

"There was no problem convincing them to leave, it was common sense."

Most of the 300 Edzo residents stayed with friends and family in Rae and those without accommodation stayed at the Rae school or sportsplex. EMO personnel provided food and bedding and the hamlet was paying for people's meals at the local cafe.

"The evacuation went very smooth," said EMO co-ordinator for the North Slave region John Gould.

"People knew they had to leave and we didn't want to cause any panic or confusion."

A fire back-burn area was successfully constructed late Wednesday afternoon by Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development fire crews, securing the safety of Edzo.

"Edzo is our number one priority," said fire boss Gord Bohnet.

"Right now we're concentrating on creating an extensive back-burn area that will ensure the long-term safety of Edzo."

A back burn is a controlled area that firefighters start to burn, allowing them to attack the fire while reducing fuel and slowing the progress of the threatening fire. A change in winds possibly saved Edzo from the encroaching fire that was less than a kilometre from the community's centre. Firefighters were hosing down houses to save them from the intense heat.

Once the fire turned from Edzo, it moved towards the highway, jumping over it and consequently closing Highway 3 between Yellowknife and Fort Providence for a day and a half.

Flames and heavy smoke kept travellers stranded in Fort Providence and Yellowknife until 10 p.m. Wednesday night.

Bohnet said by Thursday evening they expected to have about 80 per cent of the fire brought under control.

"Until we complete suppression tactics on the entire perimeter of the fire, it is out of control," he said.

"But depending on the weather and behaviour of the fire, we could be in good shape in about 10 days."