State of emergency ends over Bathurst Inlet wildfire
Tundra fire burns approximately 1.5 square kilometres
The small seasonal community of Bathurst Inlet was under a state of emergency for a week after flames burned across the tundra. (File photo)
The state of emergency is over in Bathurst Inlet.
The Government of Nunavut made the announcement Thursday evening in a news release.
“[The decision was made] after eight days of emergency response and a final onsite inspection which confirmed the risks related to this fire had been mitigated,” Community and Government Services Minister David Joanasie said in the release.
The GN declared the emergency on Aug. 9 after about 1.5 square kilometres of Arctic tundra went up in flames in the seasonally inhabited area.
Fourteen seasonal campers and hunters made the move 24 kilometres south to a staging area for ships to unload or load cargo, maintained by mining company B2Gold Corp.
Three days later, after GN firefighters had been dispatched to fight the fire with a helicopter on loan from the mining company, the fire was declared under control.
The territories have faced an unprecedented summer fire season. Nine Northwest Territories communities are currently under evacuation order as of Friday, including the capital city of Yellowknife, as fires burn across the territory.
Currently in N.W.T. there are 236 wildfires ongoing. So far in total this year there have been 269 fires over more than 21,000 square kilometres of land, according to the government’s daily update.
Could you find us a photo of that? That would be interesting.