No firm timeline yet exists for the end of the wildfire evacuation of much of the NWT, and students may have to begin the school year learning remotely again.
During a press conference Aug. 20, Premier Caroline Cochrane said the GNWT is examining remote education, like was done during the Covid-19 pandemic.
鈥淭here is concern about the school year coming up,鈥� the premier acknowledged. 鈥淚t will be a bit difficult, but we did virtual (learning) during Covid-19, so the schools have that ability already. The lessons that we learned in Covid-19 should be able to be implemented.
鈥淚t will be a matter of reaching out to parents. (The Department of) Education, Culture and Employment is actively looking at this issue at this time.鈥�
When asked what would happen with the upcoming territorial election set for Oct. 3 鈥� with nominations to open in three weeks 鈥� Cochrane deferred answers to the Speaker of the House, Frederick Blake Jr., who was not present during Sunday evening鈥檚 press conference.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 represent the legislative assembly,鈥� she said.
Fire season running longer
Department of Environment and Climate Change information officer Mike Westwick said the timeline to return depends on the situation in each affected NWT community.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e facing down a different situation in different communities,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 give one answer for everybody.
鈥淚 can never be confident in what the weather is going to do.鈥�
Westwick added that by this time of the year, wildfire season is usually over in the North.
鈥淭o put a fire like this out, you need a lot of rain,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur objective is not to put out this fire. That would be impossible without the help of nature.
鈥淭he objective is to keep the fire away from things we don鈥檛 want it to reach.鈥�
On paper, the fire season runs until Sept. 30 in the NWT. Westwick noted that wildfires were taking 鈥渂ig runs鈥� in the middle of October. At that time, lakes would freeze overnight but temperatures would rise above 20 C during the day.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in a new world,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e extended our crews longer than we normally would. We鈥檙e ready to last longer.
鈥淏ut in no way we鈥檙e sitting here telling folks that we think it will be the end of September before folks can return, but it鈥檚 really hard to give an operational timeline.
鈥淚n this business, you win or lose based on the weather. I understand the anxiety that folks are going through but it鈥檚 really hard to put a date on it.鈥�
He added the fires are burning deep and could return in spring.
鈥淲hen you see fires burning that deep in the soil, there certainly is a risk of holdover fire,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e saw holdover fires at the beginning of the year.
鈥淲ith the magnitude of the fires we鈥檝e seen this year, it certainly is a possibility.鈥�
