While officials say no structures in the Town of Hay River have been damaged as a result of what they are calling a “blow-up” event Friday, NWT Fire officials say the township remains under threat.
Challenging weather conditions, including winds gusting toward the municipality, saw the fire move a significant distance parallel to the highway, and while it remains close to town, crews were unable to offer up more precise distances.
According to the NWT Fire update posted early Saturday, neither the town centre, nor any of the heavily populated residential neighborhoods have been damaged, with structures in the west channel also remaining intact. Officials say structure loss is “likely” to the west of Hay River close to Great Slave Lake, but have been unable to confirm due to poor visibility.
“We want to be extremely clear – no frontline firefighters left when essential support workers were evacuated,” reads the fire update. “They continued firefighting efforts throughout the night, and they will continue to work tirelessly to fight this fire and protect these communities.”
Saturday’s forecast for the Hay River area is a high of 22 degrees Celcius with winds becoming north at 20 kilomeetres an hour, and gusts expected to reach 40 km/h
