Enterprise, N.W.T., '90 per cent gone' after wildfire ravages community
CBC
What you need to know about the N.W.T. wildfires:
Michael St Amour's Tuesday started off like most everyone's — eat breakfast and shower — but the rest of the day is nowhere near normal.
"Start calling people and telling them that they either have a home or not. That's my day today," said St Amour, the mayor of Enterprise, N.W.T.
While he's yet to return to the community and see the damage for himself, he says he's been told there's little left.
"I think there's seven or eight houses left and three or four businesses," he said. "Between 85 and 90 per cent of the community is gone."
On Sunday, most of the communities in the South Slave region were ordered to evacuate due to multiple wildfires either directly threatening communities or threatening to close highways connecting them to the rest of the territory.
Enterprise, Hay River, Kátł'odeeche First Nation, Fort Smith, Salt River First Nation, and Jean Marie River are all under evacuation orders. Kakisa remains under an evacuation alert.
The fire that burned Enterprise was initially closer to Kakisa. However, on Sunday strong winds pushed the fire nearly 40 kilometres to the east, ultimately reaching Highway 2.
"[Fire] SS052 has engulfed Enterprise — crews are currently assessing the extent of structure loss," reads the territory's wildfire update web page.
The territorial government has also updated its public safety web page with information for evacuees from the South Slave region.
Evacuees that ended up in Yellowknife and need accommodations can call 867-444-0618.
Like St Amour, many residents have taken refuge in High Level or Grande Prairie, Alta. since the evacuation — some driving nearly through the fire.
With an ongoing communications outage in much of the southern N.W.T., sharing information has been difficult.
St Amour says residents that he's managed to speak to are worried as information trickles out, especially through social media.