One year after Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., evacuation, leaders reflect on lessons learned

Lucy Jackson remembers exactly where she was when wildfire began to threaten her community of Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., a year ago — at home, enjoying a rare Saturday morning with nothing to do.

But by noon that day, she was at an emergency band council meeting to begin planning the community's evacuation with the wildfire already dangerously close. That night, she and many of her neighbours had fled to Norman Wells. 

This Sunday marks one year since that day, when a wildfire believed to be caused by an abandoned campfire came dangerously close to destroying properties in the community.

Jackson, 82, is a band councillor and respected elder in Fort Good Hope. She said nothing like that had ever really happened in the community before.

"We knew it was serious, but we still thought we would be home soon," she recalled.

The evacuation ended up lasting three weeks, with residents scattered between Norman Wells, Délı̨nę, and a fish camp about 15 kilometres from the community. The fire also led to the death of helicopter pilot Tom Frith, who was assisting with firefighting efforts in the community when his helicopter crashed.

"It was very traumatic, not only for myself but for the community members and a lot of our people that were on the line there fighting fire," said Fort Good Hope's Chief Collin Peirrot.

Since then, Pierrot said leaders in the community have been working hard to put the lessons of last year to action, to ensure they aren't caught off guard if fire ever threatens again.

"We learned from the past," he said.

Last year, Pierrot said, the fire happened before a wildfire team was stationed in the community. They also didn't have access to wildfire-fighting equipment from the territorial government — so local structural firefighters began fighting the wildfire without proper equipment.

A couple days into fighting the fire, Pierrot said the band council decided to buy its own wildfire-fighting equipment, at a cost of about $100,000.

"I believe that we're pretty well equipped with what we need for a firefight for a fire again," Pierrot said.

The band council has also hired a crew to clean up and expand the firebreaks created around the community last year, Pierrot said, and put in place a fire ban for the area around Fort Good Hope from the beginning of June until the end of August.

Other organizations in the community have also contributed to the preparation efforts. K'ahsho Got'ine Foundation funded wildfire training for 30 Fort Good Hope residents earlier this year.

Pierrot said it's all part of the plan to ensure that community members don't have to again face what they went through last year.