In August 2023, my husband and I evacuated from Fort Smith to Hay River with our alpacas and livestock guardian dogs when the Wood Buffalo Complex wildfire began advancing towards our community. Soon after, we were forced to evacuate again as fire SS052-23 barrelled towards Hay River, K’atl’odeeche and Enterprise.
The only highway out quickly became an inferno. Thick smoke reduced visibility to zero, and flying embers pelted our windshield. Our truck and trailer caught fire. My husband and I escaped with what we were wearing, but we lost our alpacas and beloved livestock guardian dogs.
The loss gutted me, and I wanted answers. The NWT had to learn from this. A review of the territorial government’s wildfire operations was released in August 2024. It revealed why the Department of Environment and Climate Change failed to realize, until the morning of Aug. 13, that high winds would send fire SS052-23 tearing towards Enterprise, Hay River and K’atl’odeeche.
But why did Hay River take so long to issue an evacuation order? Why weren’t authorities monitoring Highway 2 to make sure it was safe? The inferno that engulfed the highway left a dozen burned-out vehicles in its wake. The road was finally closed after a fleeing resident called the RCMP as their vehicle was melting around them.
In the aftermath, residents from 15 communities signed a petition I launched in October 2023 calling for a public inquiry into how fire SS052-23 and the evacuation were managed. The Dene Nation, the Mayor of Enterprise, and Fort Smith’s four community and Indigenous governments all supported these calls. People wanted to be heard.
Regular MLAs supported a February 2024 motion for a public inquiry, but cabinet did not. We were told that an after-action review would yield the answers we sought. Residents in affected communities would have an opportunity to share their lived experiences through “extensive public engagement” led by the contractor.
But that’s not what transpired.
I checked the consultant’s EngageNWT website several times a week for dates of upcoming community meetings. The date for Yellowknife’s was posted online a week ahead. Hay River and Fort Smith sessions were announced with less than 48-hours notice. I saw no mention of sessions in many other communities that were to be included in the consultations.
I learned of the Fort Smith meeting completely by accident, just hours before it was held. Only seven of us attended in a community of 2,500 people. The consultant told participants that she put up one poster at the grocery store, and posted on community social media pages. But searches of multiple Fort Smith community Facebook pages and the town website didn’t turn up any posts about the public engagement session.
Her explanation for the poor turnout? “People are tired of answering questions,” she said at the end of the Oct. 9 meeting. We all shook our heads. “No, this is the first chance anyone has had to talk about what happened,” someone else said. I later learned that our MLA, community leaders, most residents and town councillors didn’t hear about the meeting until after it happened. Hay River residents faced a similar situation 10 days earlier, with a session that was also very poorly advertised and attended.
A resident said they completed an online survey about the evacuations because “it felt better than nothing.” That statement is not a ringing endorsement of this public engagement process — it’s a condemnation that illustrates the frustration of excluding people who wanted to be heard and had information to share.
Making an appearance in a community doesn’t constitute “extensive public engagement.” What matters is taking the time to ensure that people who want to share their lived experience have a chance to be heard. It’s by listening that we learn what worked and what didn’t. It’s by feeling heard that we heal.
-Hélèna Katz lives in Fort Smith.
