The City of Yellowknife and the GNWT are continuing their work on a multi-step re-entry plan which includes four phases to bring residents back home as soon as it is safe.
“We don’t have a date for when the fires will declared under control by ECC,” MACA Communications Representative Jay Boast says.
According to Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty, step one is underway as the City has ‘started to ask essential workers to return home’ in order to ensure support for the community when Yellowknifers return.
“This is crucial so the hospital can be staffed, grocery stores full, gas stations equipped, etc so there are limited disruptions when everyone comes home,” Alty says.
Step two will see basic critical services running. The City says services will not be operational, but will be enough to welcome residents home.
Step three will include input from the GNWT Department of ECC wildfire experts, and the evacuation order would be lifted for the City when it is deemed safe to do so.
The fourth and final step will see residents begin to return to their communities, by air or road. This process will be organized by the GNWT.
The evacuation order remains in effect.
