Crews making progress with KFN, Hay River wildfire despite challenging conditions

Crews fighting a wildfire near the Kátł'odeeche First Nation reserve and Hay River are celebrating progress made over the weekend to contain the blaze. 

Mike Westwick, a territorial fire information officer, told CBC News on Monday that the team was able to continue building lines around the south end of the fire — even with winds blowing from the northeast, which pushed the fire toward the south. 

"It was really good they were successful … yesterday was a good day," he said.

Westwick said air support was also able to focus on the southeast flank of the fire and slow its growth toward Highway 5 while clearing the way for more lines. 

"But we do have to be clear that there does remain risk in the area," he continued. "There's a lot of continuous forest to the south there, and our aim going forward is to prevent the fire from spreading to that area. 

"Because if the winds don't go the right way and they start moving east, then there's a chance that this fire does get into that area and could hook east towards the town of Hay River."

As of Sunday at 8 p.m., the fire had grown to just under 3,200 hectares, according to an update from the N.W.T. wildfire agency. 

Crews are expected to continue widening the Kátł'odeeche First Nation road, strengthen defences on the west side of the fire to stop its spread toward Hay River, and work with both communities to protect local structures over the coming days. 

With more and more progress under their belts, Westwick said morale amongst the firefighters after the weekend is strong. 

"It's a really remarkable group of people out here working so hard every single day to keep this community safe," he said.

It's been over one week since roughly 3,500 people were ordered to evacuate from the area, sending them to seek refuge in other communities throughout the territory.

As it stands, there is no official timeline for when the evacuation order will be dropped, and authorities have repeatedly said entry into either community remains unsafe.

The Town of Hay River noted Sunday on Facebook that the N.W.T.'s Department of Environment and Climate Change is expected to provide a forecast by the end of the week for when evacuees will be able to return home, but people should plan on a minimum of five to six days before it's deemed possible. 

By 10:30 a.m. that same morning, the town published an update stating it is working on a re-entry plan that "considers the fact that it will take most of the summer to completely put out the fire," and the risks posed by ever-changing conditions.