The Behchokǫ̀ community, NWT, is establishing around 200 COT for evacuated of what officials ordered residents to evacuate their community due to a nearby forest fire.
Behchokǫ̀ has also organized meals and snacks for the evacuees and for medical staff and counselors to be ready, Chief Bertha Rabesca Zoe said CBC News.
“We have gone through evacuations ourselves before,” Rabesca Zoe said. “And so we know how much family and community are very important to make sure that we all get between ourselves and support ourselves and are there for each other.”
Rabesca Zoe said some people will stay with relatives in Behchokǫ̀ and Yellowknife.
Behchokǫ̀ will be a stop for many evacuated on the way to Yellowknife because the city needs time to prepare for its arrival, he said.
The officials in Whatı̀ declared a local state of emergency on Friday morning and ordered the residents to leave immediately. They ordered the people to register at the What’s Cultural Center and said the reception centers were being established in Behchokǫ̀ and Yellowknife.
What, a community of about 600 people, ̀ is on the southeast side of Lac La Martre and is 167 kilometers from Behchokǫ̀. He had been under an evacuation alert since Wednesday afternoon, which means that officials warned residents to prepare to leave at any time.
On Friday afternoon, the senior administrative officer of Whatı̀, Sherbaz Muhammad, said that most community members have gone. Around 150 people were still in the community, a number that included emergency personnel, firefighters and essential workers, as well as for him and other municipal services staff.
“I’m a little relieved,” he said. Some members of the community had been anxious as the situation advanced throughout the week and had been waiting for a real order.
“Some are left, but I hope everyone goes out, except some people, including me.”
He said that the duration of the evacuation will depend on the behavior of the fire, but it could last a couple of weeks.
Officials, evacuated that are calm, the emergency planner says
This is the first evacuation order in the NWT this summer, and arrives unusually at the end of the year.
Whates residents remained calm while registered at the Cultural Center on Friday morning, then boarded the buses or fed vehicles to leave the community, according to Samantha Beaverho, the government worker who serves as head of the planning section during emergencies.
“We have a more bus load that we are waiting for to transport the rest of the members of the community that are still here,” said Beaverho, who usually works as a recreation coordinator.
There have been RCMP officers, nurses and advisors available to help reassure people and make sure there is no lack of communication, he said.
“This morning was the adrenaline [rush] For staff, “said Beaverho.
“But we also remind ourselves, you know, to keep calm, to stay [collected] And just to make sure we get the members of the community safely. “
The authorities are asking the evacuees to register in Behchokǫ̀ before going anywhere else, he said, and stay in Behchokǫ̀ on Friday until Yellowknife is prepared to welcome those evacuated on Friday night or Saturday morning.
Road 9 in a northern direction due to smoke
It is not expected that the forest fire that burns seven kilometers from the community airport will reach the road that leads from the community, a NWT fire information officer said in an interview on Friday morning.
However, visibility on the road will be a challenge, said Mike Westwick.
The Government of the Northwest territories closed the 9th Highway to the North towards What ̀ on Friday afternoon due to a strong smoke.
However, it remains open for residents who lead south from What ̀ for evacuation.
Yellowknife Mayor Ben Hendriksen said in a Facebook post that Fieldhouse and Multiplex will be closed to public use for now while the city prepares for the host of the evacuees. He also said that some city services could be slower.
“Show the kindness and support for residents of what become temporary yellow,” he wrote. “We all know the challenges of being far from home in these difficult times.”
Canada’s environment and climate change forecast winds from the south of up to 10 kilometers per hour for what Friday. The climate office is also asking for a maximum of 30 C diurnal in the area.
In a publication for a Facebook group of the What’s community, the Power Territories Northwest Territories Corporation said it would maintain power in the community “whenever it is sure to do it.”
He said that the energy plant has been equipped with fire protection equipment, and that some staff will stay all the time they can.
The fire remained about seven kilometers from the What’s airport until Friday, said Westwick fire information officer, and had not approached closer than Thursday.
Westwick accredited the lack of movement in part to a smoke blanket that hangs on the area, contributing to higher humidity levels.
‘Get to the good and wet community’
He said that officials are concerned that the smoke can lift in the afternoon, allowing the activity of the fire to increase.
He said that the teams, meanwhile, have successfully established and proven sprinkling systems on the edge of the community.
“We will run them all day [to] Obtain the good and wet community, protect those structures, mitigate the losses if the fire is approaching. And if the opportunity occurs, we will hit it with aircraft aircraft and air tankers if the visibility allows a safe flight to that area. “
The teams were able to cool the end of the fire closest to the community on Thursday by fighting it from the air, he added.
However, they also saw the growth of a finger of the fire that had grown east.
It could also move north if the smoke rises on Friday, said Westwick.
“The drought conditions in the area are making control of these fires extremely challenging,” he said.
“They escape those control efforts despite the best efforts … Every step of the road here. And we are in a position now in which we need to do our best to protect this community.”
