In the Northwest Territories, an approaching wildfire season is fuelling anxiety

As early signs of the wildfire season in Alberta suggest another difficult summer for N.W.T. residents, many are experiencing a growing phenomenon called climate anxiety, also known as eco-anxiety.

Fort Smith Coun. Mike Couvrette remembers last year's first wildfire of the season near Fort Smith, which heralded a summer of heat, drought, smoke and evacuations.

"We experienced our first wildfire and it was only six kilometres from where I live, 16 kilometres from the downtown area of Fort Smith," Couvrette said. 

"It turned out to be a couple of acres that ended up burning and just, 'Wow, what's happening? This doesn't happen this early in the season,' was the reaction of the entire community and I think that was an early wake up call for us that we need it to be prepared for the unusual."

Week after week, more fires started and spread, many of them racing toward communities. Then, in August, a wildfire consumed Enterprise and the highway out of the N.W.T.

Couvrette and his wife Helena were on that highway when the flames came, along with their dogs and their alpacas. Tragedy struck when their trailer caught fire.

"We lost our livestock, the guardian dogs that we rely on to look after them, our pets as well," Couvrette said. 

He said many people in Hay River are still uneasy about the upcoming wildfire season. 

"In general, I think people are still somewhat anxious," he added. 

Robert Selles is a psychologist who works with Anxiety Canada and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. 

Selles said natural disasters, like forest fires, seem threatening because they're unpredictable and can cause harm.

"They can put us in states of shock. They can leave us feeling worried and afraid, sort of grieving and angry," he said. 

With the end of winter approaching and dry weather around the corner, Selles said it's normal to feel anxiety and fear right now. 

"There is certainly some realistic reasons to feel all of those things. And those feelings are a natural sort of response from our body and our minds intending to protect us," he said.