The community of Whati is currently on an Evacuation Alert wildfire evacuation status, said community officials in an announcement this afternoon. The wildfire ZF048 is estimated to be about 8.5 km from the community, about half the distance it was yesterday.
At about 2 p.m., officials advised Whatì residents be prepared to evacuate on short notice.
“Instructions: Residents of Whatì should be ready to evacuate on short notice due to a wildfire in the area,” said Sherbaz Mohammad, a Tłı̨chǫ government representative, at about 2.p.m.
Mohammad advised that the alert is meant to prepare folks in case an evacuation is needed.
“If you need to evacuate, an order will be issued with further information.”
Community officials are also asking that community members fill out pre-evacuation registration forms, especially if assistance with transportation is required and if temporary accommodations are needed by families. Mohamaad said the forms are available at the Cultural Centre in Whati.
For updates, community members are encouraged to go to the GNWT Public Safety webpage: https://www.gov.nt.ca/en/public-safety.
An Evacuation Alert means community members should be ready to leave on short notice for a potential emergency.
Officials also advised the community to monitor the situation on the community social media site and through other news sources.
Aggressive fire weather conditions are anticipated, which may cause the fire to spread northward toward the community, according to advisories from the NWT Fire and the Tłı̨chǫ government.
An air quality advisory is also currently in effect in the community due to smoke from wildfires.
“The air quality is currently very unhealthy, and residents are advised to limit time outdoors, especially those with respiratory conditions, the elderly, pregnant individuals, and young children. Common symptoms may include eye, nose, and throat irritation, headaches, or a mild cough. More serious symptoms could involve wheezing, chest pains, or severe cough. In such cases, seek immediate medical assistance. It’s recommended to keep windows and doors closed and use air purifiers if available,” said community officials.
Just before noon, the Tłı̨chǫ government announced that surrounding wildfires continue to cause air quality issues.
“The AQ index in Whati and Behchokǫ̀ is currently at an unhealthy level. This will continue throughout the day.”
Officials advised to keep activities limited while going outside and to use protective masks and air purifiers indoors.
Daycare programs and offices in Whati and Behchokǫ̀ will remain closed for the day.
An area has been set up at a community centre where air filters are cleaning the air
for older adults, children and anyone with health issues.
Officials encouraged community members to keep updated by heading to the community website who would like more information and resources about protection and evacuation
Community officials posted links with more resources for Fire Protection or Evacuation:
- GNWT: NWT Wildfire update (Live fire map)
- GNWT: North Slave Wildfire Update ZF048-25
- GNWT: Be ready for Emergencies
- GNWT: Public Safety Notices
- TG: Protecting Your Home, Cabin, or Camp
- GNWT: Evacuee Registration Form
Yesterday, Mike Westwick with NWT Fire, explained that the fire has not been responding well to suppression efforts.
“Over the next couple days, we’ve got some pretty unfavourable winds coming from the south that are expected to push the fire closer to the community. We don’t expect it to reach the community under the conditions that we’re expecting to see, but there’s a need for some heightened alert in case something goes awry there. In response, we’re mobilizing a structure protection team there. The community government has also taken steps to begin setting up structure protection. So sprinklers and the like in the community and we’ll be attacking it aggressively from the air, whenever it’s safe to do so.”
On Monday, it was too smoky to complete air tank commissions on the wildfire, but crews hoped that would change, said Westwick. Yesterday afternoon, crews were able to mobilize an air response, but due to the heat and dry conditions, the wildfire could not be contained as effectively as desired.
Anyone travelling along Hwy 3 is advised to be check conditions as fire is expected to potentially approach the highway in some areas and extreme smokey conditions have been reported.
Crews are setting up protections for wildfire ZF015 located about 3 km west of Hwy 3. Last week, officials announced this fire had combined with ZF017.
As Westwick pointed out, this wildfire has been persisting since June.
“We do expect it to flare up a good amount over the next couple of days under the weather that we’re expecting to see and the response that we’re taking on that fire is that we’ve been setting up sprinklers on cabins, as they become at threat on that Highway, that work’s been largely successful,” said Westwick.
Officials said the fire continues to be most visible between KM 140-160 on Highway 3. Crews cautioned travellers to expect to see increasing fire activity over the coming days and advised travellers to check DriveNWT.ca for the latest road condition updates.
Last week, officials reported the fire had grown to over 200,000 hectares in size.
“Travelling on the highway, folks should expect to see elevated smoke conditions, potentially some fire along the sides of the highway. We’re in consistent contact with our colleagues out at highways there to make sure they have the best information and they’re able to make good decisions to keep safe out there,” added Westwick.
Due to unseasonably warm conditions, much of the territories are experiencing an extended wildfire season.
Wildland crews warn “extreme fire behaviour” is active for fires SS014 (near Fort Providence), FS014 (towards the Mackenzie River in the Decho) and ZF015 (near Hwy 3 in the North Slave region).
“With this in-mind, those in Fort Simpson, Jean Marie River, Fort Providence, Behchoko, Whati, and travellers along Highway 3 should expect to see significant smoke and fire activity,” said NWT Fire
The territories are continuing to experience an extended wildfire season, due to the unseasonably warm temperatures, which is fueling wildfires that are causing smoke to hover across many areas of the N.W.T.
Again today, an air quality advisory is in effect for the North Slave region including as mentioned Whati along with Wekweeti, Behchokǫ̀, the Hay River region including Enterprise, the Fort Providence region including Kakisa and Chan Lake.
A heat advisory is again in effect for the Fort Liard region including Nahanni Butte and Sambaa K’e, the Fort Providence region including Kakisa and Chan Lake, the Thebaca region including Fort Smith and Salt River, the Fort Simpson region and Jean Marie River First Nation, the Fort Resolution area including Hwy 6, the Hay River region including Enterprise.
