Wekweètì, N.W.T., on evacuation alert with three nearby wildfires

Community members in Wekweètì are waiting to see whether they need to evacuate with three wildfires burning nearby. 

Chief Adeline Judas-Football said the community was planning to evacuate Wednesday but that there were no planes available. 

She added that crews were dropping water on the fires from the air overnight.

"The evacuation is on hold due to having the water bombers going out," she said. "Now that the fire is gone down, they're going to be doing the assessment to see if the evacuation is still going to happen." 

She said they were waiting for an update between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Thursday morning. 

The N.W.T. government has also issued an evacuation alert for residents to be prepared to leave "on short notice." 

"If you haven't already done so, please register directly with your senior administrative officer." 

If Wekweètì  is evacuated, its roughly 140 people are expected to be moved to Yellowknife. 

The closest fire (ZF009) is about two kilometres from the community on an island. 

"ZF009 was initially assessed at 50 hectares in size but the situation is changing quickly," according to a Wednesday night update on the N.W.T Fire website. 

"ZF009 is currently too intense to have crews fighting it on the ground, and so it is being attacked by air. Two tanker groups are working on the fire to limit the spread to the community." 

Sprinkler kits, additional equipment and staff, and more water bombers were expected to battle the fire on Thursday. 

A total of eight fires have flared up in the North Slave region over the last few days. 

A human-caused fire on the north tip of Prosperous Lake is expected to be declared out shortly.