KA'A'GEE TU/KAKISA
It could be days, weeks or longer before it is safe for residents of Kakisa to return to their homes.

Smoke from the forest fire seven kilometres away can be seen clearly from Kakisa on June 30. Most residents voluntarily left the community June 27. - photo courtesy of the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs

The community agreed to self-evacuate on June 27 because of a forest fire that was seven kilometres south of Kakisa. All but seven residents evacuated with 26 going to Hay River where they are staying in hotels and approximately five going to Fort Providence to stay with family and friends, said Ivan Russell, the manager of emergency measures with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.

The seven who remained behind are assisting with the security of the community, Russell said. Some additional residents were already away from Kakisa on Friday when the evacuation started.

Russell said there is no timeline for when residents will be able to return.

"Evacuees are encouraged to stay in Hay River until conditions improve," he said.

As of June 30 conditions weren't encouraging. Strong winds and low relative humidity on June 29 helped the fire to grow from 32,000 hectares to approximately 45,000 hectares, although it didn't move any closer to the community, said Ella Stinson, a spokesperson with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The fire was also about three kilometres south of Highway 1.

The department has an incident command team based just outside of Kakisa to oversee work on the fire. The team is comprised of staff from both the NWT and Alberta.

The ultimate objective is to protect the community and secondary goals include preventing the fire from crossing the highway or spreading east towards Enterprise, which isn't threatened yet, Stinson said.

"We do have a lot of resources on it," she said.

"They are working hard to protect the community."

As of Monday there were seven four-person fire crews from the NWT and Alberta working on the fire as well as three crews of emergency firefighters. Water bombers and helicopters were dropping water and retardants on the fire and structural protection specialists were setting up sprinkler systems on some of the houses closest to the fire.

An additional fireguard was also being created along the Kakisa access road in case the command team decided to burn the forest between the fire and the road.

The weather, which was continuing to be hot and dry, wasn't favourable, Stinson said. The fire was still classified as out of control.

Although other communities in the NWT have been evacuated before because of smoke and proximity to forest fires, Russell said to his knowledge no NWT community has been burned by a forest fire.

Cabins and other structures have been burned in the past.

"The public has to be cautious," Russell said, pointing to conditions across the territory.

As of June 30 there were 93 fires burning in the territory, this was the only one threatening a community. The fire started in early June as the result of a lightning strike.

Other departments and organizations including the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment who closed Lady Evelyn Falls Territorial Park by Kakisa and the RCMP who have been doing patrols have also been assisting with the efforts on this fire, Russell said.

"There's a huge effort on the part of many departments here to make sure we try to protect the community, make sure the safety of people in the region and look after evacuees," he said.