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Voluntary evacuation for Wrigley due to fire Forest continues to burn approximately 20 km from the community
Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, July 11, 2013
PEHDZEH KI/WRIGLEY
Wrigley was put under a voluntary evacuation order on July 8 in what was being called a pre-emptive strike.
The smoke from the forest fire, located approximately 20 kilometres away from Wrigley, has been compared to a mushroom cloud. This photo shows the smoke on July 8 as seen from Highway 1 outside of the community. - photo courtesy of Tammie Cazon
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There were concerns that smoke from the forest fire, located approximately 20 kilometres away, could blow over the community. If that happened, Highway 1, the only access road to Wrigley and the airport, would have been closed, leaving few evacuation options, said Mike Drake, the regional superintendent for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Drake made the decision to call for the voluntary evacuation after meeting with officials from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Pehdzeh Ki First Nation staff and leadership were then consulted and agreed with the plan, Drake said on July 8.
A state of emergency hasn't been declared and there was no smoke in the community when the evacuation was called, he said.
"People don't have to leave if they don't want to," said Drake.
Out of the population of 130 people, up to 100 were expected to come to Fort Simpson where they will be housed in the two school residences and the recreation centre. Drake said he hopes the residents will only have to stay a few days, but there was no way to know how long the evacuation could last.
"There's too many variables," he said.
Essential people, including some band personnel and power plant and water treatment plant operators, were remaining in the community. Wrigley is still functioning, just with few people, he said.
The fire outside of Wrigley started as a result of a lightning strike in the McConnell range during the weekend of June 15 to 16. It has grown to approximately 25,000 hectares.
As of the morning of July 9, the fire wasn't posing an immediate threat to Wrigley, except through drifting smoke, said Carl Lafferty, the regional superintendent with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Because of wind conditions, Tuesday was expected to be another extreme fire behavior day. Controlling the southwest corner of the fire so it can't move into the river valley and blow towards Enbridge Pipeline (NW) Inc.'s pumping station, Highway 1 and the community of Wrigley was the primary concern for the incident command team responsible for work on the fire, Lafferty said.
Control lines were being worked on in that area, along with retardant lines that air tankers were creating. Crews were also expected to do some burning on Tuesday evening to create another barrier for the fire.
"They don't want it to escape," he said.
The pumping station, located approximately 10 kilometres from the fire, was also not threatened as of the morning of July 9.
As of July 8, approximately 80 people were working on the fire, including 40 firefighters from B.C. and 20 from Saskatchewan, along with four helicopters and a CL 215 tanker group.
The Deh Cho region, which doesn't include Kakisa and Fort Providence, has had 57 fires so far this year covering 87,792.27 hectares, the most fires and the largest area covered of any region in the territory. There hasn't been a forest fire season like this in the Deh Cho since 1995, said Lafferty.
"It's above average," he said.
The department is still working on the fire nine kilometres northwest of Jean Marie River that led to people at risk from smoke inhalation being advised to leave last week.
The goal is to fully contain the fire so it can't become a threat again, said Lafferty. Three helicopters and 50 firefighters were working on the fire on July 8, along with a large Electra air tanker.
"They're making very good progress on the fire," he said.
The department is also monitoring a fire that started in the Yukon and has spread into the southwest corner of the NWT creating smoky conditions for Fort Liard. An air tanker and fire crews were also being dispatched on the morning of July 9 to a new fire approximately nine hectares big that was reported five kilometre northwest of Sambaa Deh Territorial Park.
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