Deline (Aug 14/06) - Approximately 600 residents of the picturesque Sahtu community of Deline were told to prepare to flee, last Monday.

A 58-hectare forest fire was just 11 km away to the northeast and the Deline Emergency Measures Committee was prepared to issue an evacuation order.

But, thanks to the hard work of crews from around the territories, that order never came.

"We've been under a lot of stress for the last few days," said Christina Gaudet, Deline senior administrative officer. "As of Wednesday morning, I'm told the fire is 75 per cent under control."

While the evacuation alert was lifted Wednesday, she said it was great to see there was a proper plan in place to assist residents in the event of an emergency.

"Especially in the case of our elders and people with respiratory problems ... they had to be ready to go," she said. "The plan was to take people to Inuvik and Yellowknife if we had to evacuate."

People from around the NWT pulled together to control the fire.

A bomber group of two CL215 water tankers from Norman Wells was among the first to attack the blaze with additional groups also coming from Fort Simpson and Yellowknife. The planes worked the scene until 11 p.m. Monday night.

That same evening two ground crews arrived from the Deh Cho along with an on-site incident commander.

They joined two crews - one from Deline and one from Fort Liard - which earlier in the day created a fuel break near the community.

Tuesday brought an additional ground crew from Tsiigehtchic and two more from Hay River. That day conditions for fighting the fire also improved.

"They got crews on it and today there were southeast winds," said Judy McLinton, fire information officer with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Tuesday afternoon. "They would have been able to make progress on it." Around Deline, life was much more relaxed by then as well.

"Things are going fine here now," said Pauline Roche, Deline First Nation manager.

The southeast winds were appreciated in the community, too.

"It's not smoky here at all," she said.