Northwest Territories evacuees relive their journeys out of wildfire danger
CBC
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After two evacuations and hundreds of kilometres along smoky highways, Ramanda Sanderson has finally found safety from the fires that are ravaging her Northwest Territories home.
"Being evacuated two times in 24 hours is nothing like I have ever experienced," she said in an email from the Paddle Prairie Métis Settlement in Alberta, far from where she started earlier this week.
"Minutes feel like hours and days never seem to end."
Sanderson is one of thousands of N.W.T. residents who have fled the 236 wildfires tearing through the northern boreal forest. More than 20,000 square kilometres have been burned.
Evacuations have been ordered for Fort Smith, Enterprise, Jean Marie River and Hay River.
Many highways have been closed by the fires and the territory is mounting what officials call the largest airlift in its history. The Canadian Forces are on the ground helping firefighters and flying evacuees out on Hercules aircraft.
Sanderson's odyssey began Saturday when flames drove her from her home in Fort Smith along the Alberta-N.W.T. boundary.
"Fort Smith did an amazing job getting us out at the perfect time, and everyone left in a calm, timely manner," she said.
She left in a convoy of campers and trucks with a party of relatives that included her fiance and family members adding up to 23 people, 10 dogs and three cats. The group drove the 272 kilometres to Hay River, where they thought they would be safe in the town's campground.
They weren't.
"No one anticipated the fire from Kakisa to move 50 kilometres in a matter of hours," Sanderson said.
"Being in the hypervigilant state that we were already in from evacuating Fort Smith, once we saw the smoke rolling in and the black ashes falling, we just jumped into action immediately."
Sanderson's family messaged one another on social media to get a move on — 24 hours after their first evacuation.
