By Canadian Press

Pre-registration for re-entry flights set to begin for some N.W.T. communities

Sep 11, 2023 | 6:21 PM

YELLOWKNIFE — It remains unclear when residents in the Northwest Territories’ South Slave region will be allowed to return home, but officials are set to open pre-registration for re-entry flights in anticipation.

Jay Boast, an information officer with the territory’s Emergency Management Organization, says online and phone pre-registration for flights is set to begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday for wildfire evacuees from the communities of Hay River, Enterprise and K’atl’odeeche First Nation.

Boast says the process will allow officials to develop passenger lists, which will help identify appropriate transportation needs.

He says pre-registration is set to close on Thursday at 8 p.m.

An evacuation order was issued for the 3,500 residents of Hay River, as well as Enterprise and K’atl’odeeche First Nation, on Aug. 13, three days before people in Yellowknife were ordered to leave.

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Yellowknife’s evacuation order was lifted Wednesday, but wildfire information officer Mike Westwick warns that no return is risk-free, noting there was a significant amount of smoke in the area on Sunday.

“It is a state of needing to live with fire, and that is a reality that many communities have faced and will need to face as we move forward through this wildfire season,” Westwick said during a wildfire briefing Monday.

The Town of Hay River was expected to provide an update later Monday about the timeline for re-entry.

Mayor Kandis Jameson had said on Friday that if all goes well, residents could be home within 10 days.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2023.

The Canadian Press