The wildfire in Fort Smith has pushed first responders from Parks Canada, Alberta Wildfire, GNWT, and Fort Smith to temporarily relocate their base of operations.
Due to ‘significant impacts’ to the area’s power supply, and lack of potable water treatment abilities, alongside difficulties surrounding healthcare for first responders, crews are unable to continue their jobs safely.
“We have to ensure the safety of our responders, first priority has been getting folks out safe and we stand shoulder to shoulder with Parks Canada as we all work hard to battle a really difficult situation,” ECC Wildfire Information Officer Mike Westwick says.
According to NWT Fire, the last remaining tactics for protecting the community are landscape-level ignition operations where fire specialists bring the fire to areas where the flames can be held including Highway 5 dozer guards, and airport lands.
“This decision was not an easy one to make. First responders dedicate their lives to the protection of people and communities,” Parks Canada says. “Without the necessary critical infrastructure in place for them to continue their work safely, the decision was made to limit the number of responders exposed to the risk,” they add.
