'How did we let that happen?': Questions swirl around fire that razed Enterprise, N.W.T.

Weeks after a wildfire tore through his community, Enterprise, N.W.T., Mayor Mike St Amour is still putting out the odd hotspot with a garden hose. 

Walking amid the rubble has given him time to reflect on what happened in the days leading up to the fire that he says destroyed about 90 per cent of his community.

He says there were gaps in communication between his community and the territorial government, and he's frustrated by the lack of resources deployed to try and stop the fire — though he admits he's unsure whether it would have made a difference.  

"They could have had sprinklers out here … and we could have set up a wall of water," he said. "That might have done something. With the amount of wind that was going on that day I don't think it would have. Who knows?" 

On Aug. 13, a wildfire that was burning near Kakisa, N.W.T., took a run to the east, ultimately forcing the evacuation of Enterprise and Hay River on the same day. The speed with which the fire moved is difficult to comprehend. Estimates from officials in the days after said the fire moved between 40 and 75 kilometres.

The two communities are in the Northwest Territories' South Slave region, about 200 kilometres southwest of Yellowknife on the opposite side of Great Slave Lake. Enterprise counts about 120 residents, while Hay River has about 3,800.

In the weeks since the evacuation, the fire has continued to grow. Its burn area has ballooned to more than 417,000 hectares. 

Anything unprotected in its path has been left charred, if not completely sent up in flame. Now the fire's burning about 1.5 kilometres of Hay River's centre. 

On Aug. 13 — a Sunday — St Amour said the community was hosting a "gospel breakfast" and residents could see smoke. 

In the afternoon, he said he received a message from Kátł'odeeche First Nation Chief April Martel, asking why he wasn't part of an emergency management organization meeting. 

"Nobody contacted us," he said. "We were listening in to what was going on around the table and we jumped off and started an evacuation."

At 10 p.m. that night, NorthwesTel reported that wildfires took down telecommunication services in multiple communities, including Enterprise, Hay River, Fort Providence and Fort Resolution. Internet, cell and phone service wasn't restored until Aug. 18, five days later.

St Amour said the territory needs to re-think how it addresses wildfires. 

"When you let a forest fire burn itself out, this is what happens," he said.