A wildfire is burning towards the community of Fort Good Hope in the NWT.
Fort Good Hope, NWT
I get to coach and support the volunteer church leaders at the Pentecostal church in Fort Good Hope. Robinson and Rose Kelly are lifetime residents of Fort Good Hope. Please take a moment and pray for them as you read this.
Fort Good Hope is 90 miles south of the Arctic Circle. I was on the phone at 10:26pm on Sunday night with Rose. She was evacuated earlier to Norman Wells. Her husband, Robinson stayed behind as he is an essential worker. Rose assured me that he had a boat ready to make his escape if the fire burned out of control.
There are about 500 residents of the community and only 90 remain in the town.
The fire was approximately two hectares in size on Saturday morning. By Saturday night it was around 200 hectares in size and by Sunday morning it was 900 hectares. The wildfire reached the edge of Fort Good Hope sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning. No structures have been lost to date.
Wildfire
Water Bombers and firefighters were holding the fire at bay about 1km from the residential area. Rose reported on Sunday that the fire was nearing the airport.
The oldest permanent structure in northern Canada is under threat from the fire. A Catholic Church, designed and built by Oblate missionaries between 1865 and 1885. It was designated a National Historic Site in 1977.
Pray for God’s mercy and for good to come out of this emergency. Stay up to date here with the fire situation.
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