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Residents of Fort Simpson, N.W.T., who have not yet left the community due to a nearby wildfire are being ordered to shelter in place until further notice.
The Village of Fort Simpson issued the order on Monday evening. It follows an evacuation order issued on Sunday, when the community of about 1,300 was told to head to Yellowknife, some 600 kilometres away.
“There is a likelihood that we do have fire impact into the community into the overnight period,” said fire information officer Forrest Tower on Monday evening.
“Worst case scenario, we have fire enter the entire community.”
Residents who are still in the community and need a place to shelter can go to the local recreation centre. The village says they should bring their own supplies such as food, water, and bedding. Pets are not allowed.
By Monday afternoon, the fire designated FS016 was estimated to be more than 8,900 hectares in size and approximately seven kilometres west of the community’s airport.
An update from fire officials says there had been “observable growth” of the fire toward Fort Simpson as of 5:30 p.m., but the exact distance was not known. It said elevated winds were expected to increase fire behaviour Monday evening and overnight and could push the fire closer to the village.
“It’s just so dependent on wind speed and wind direction. We might, you know, get lucky and it could get really close in some areas and have minimal impact,” said Tower.
Fort Simpson Mayor Les Wright told CBC News at around 7 p.m. on Monday evening that the community was “smoked over.”
“Rapidly it went from being nice and clear to being dark in 15, 20 minutes,” he said.
He said people were already heading to the local recreation centre and he expected other residents would stay in their homes for the night. He expected about 30 people would shelter at the recreation centre. Wright said about 800 people had evacuated as of Monday evening.
Wright told CBC News he was going out onto the river to get a better view of what was happening. He said so far, the community seemed safe.
“We are driving around town with water trucks, looking for any hotspots. We haven’t found any yet as far as I know, but we will be monitoring things.”
The Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSSA) said in a statement just before 8 p.m. Monday that the Fort Simpson Health Centre was closed effective immediately.
“Emergency medical service for firefighting personnel and official emergency responders only remains available at the health centre through the NTHSSA’s Wildfire Paramedic team. This Paramedic team will remain on-site as long as conditions permit,” the statement reads.
The capital city has set up an evacuation centre at the Multiplex for Fort Simpson community members. Residents who choose to stay in Fort Simpson have been warned that there will be no supports available.
The community of Wrigley was also ordered to evacuate on Monday due to a nearby wildfire. Residents of that community are heading to Fort Smith.