Prepare for another challenging wildfire season, N.W.T. fire officials say
By Heather Kitching
Fire officials in the Northwest Territories are warning people to prepare for another challenging wildfire season due in part to ongoing drought conditions in parts of the territory.
The territory has seen average levels of precipitation over the winter and a snowpack that exceeds five-year averages in most places, its new manager of wildfire operations Jason Currie told reporters at news conference Tuesday.
But there wasn’t enough rain last fall to completely replenish the moisture in the ground.
“When we have the drought, we find our fires are burning a lot deeper into the ground because there’s more fuel available to burn in the ground,” Currie said.
“How that impacts us is it’s making it more difficult … to try to put these fires out.”
Several communities evacuated in last few years
In 2023, the N.W.T. faced a record-breaking fire season that saw multiple communities evacuated, some with little notice. At one point, two thirds of the territory’s population was displaced indefinitely.
In 2024, residents were also forced to leave Fort Good Hope and head to Norman Wells over a fire burning at the community’s doorstep.
Last year, residents of Whatı̀ and Fort Providence had to flee their homes, while others were told to pack their bags and be ready to leave on short notice.
The territory has received reports of over-winter burning at the sites of the Fort Providence and Whatı̀ fires, and it intends to carry out infrared scanning of those fire sites to look for hot spots, Currie said.
It will do the same around the sites of fires near Jean Marie River and Fort Liard.
The territory has 35 wildfire crews prepared to fight fires this year, one more than it had last year, Currie said.
It also has more than 100 specialists and support staff, seven long-term contracts for helicopters and 12 air tankers.
When it comes to preventing damage from wildfires, the territory completed more than 100 FireSmart Advanced Home Assessments in 2025, which teach people how to mitigate wildfire risks at their homes, cabins or businesses, the territory’s manager of wildfire prevention and mitigation told reporters.
Over the past year, it also offered basic training to seven fire departments on how to prepare and protect structures from wildfires, Mike Westwick said.
“Two of our most significant incidents last year happened in Fort Providence and Whatı̀,” he said.
“In both of those communities, we had the opportunity to actually be there earlier in the summer with this fire services training delivery program and run through that training with their fire departments …. And lo and behold, incident management teams deploy in there, and guess what? We’re able to shake hands quick and … operate more effectively.”
The territory is aiming to train nine more fire departments this year, Westwick said.
In the meantime, it has purchased two new trailers over the past year with sprinkler equipment for protecting buildings and infrastructure and funded two more such trailers for municipalities.
In addition, it has invested $1.7 million in community wildfire resilience projects, such as clearing fuel from around communities, Westwick said.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Q & A | N.W.T. adding 5th rating to fire danger level ahead of wildfire season, CBC News
Finland: Wildfires continue to burn across Lapland, Yle News
Norway: Smoke from Canadian wildfires forecast to reach Norway, The Associated Press
Russia: New NOAA report finds vast Siberian wildfires linked to Arctic warming, The Associated Press
Sweden: High risk of wildfires in many parts of Sweden, including North, Radio Sweden
United States: Wildfires in Anchorage? Climate change sparks disaster fears, The Associated Press
