No risk of fire causing trouble to workers' travel home, says fire officer
After weeks of widespread wildfires, essential workers are now heading back home to the Northwest Territories ahead of the scheduled lifting of the general evacuation order in the territory’s capital this week.
"At a very, very high level -- a 30,000-foot level -- I'd say there's a third of our evacuees that are returning before our overall evacuation order is lifted,” said Yellowknife city manager Sheila Bassi-Kellett during an online news conference Monday afternoon.
Workers in grocery stores, pharmacies, home-heating providers, and even some taxi drivers and daycare providers are among those coming back to the territory’s capital to prepare for the return of the general population, according to CTV News.
Staff at the city's airport, like baggage handlers, will also be among those heading home early, and they will be there for flights that bring evacuees home, said Jeffrey Edison, acting assistant deputy minister with the Department of Infrastructure.
Over 2,000 people have pre-registered to be on re-entry flights following a call to do so on Saturday, said Jay Boas, NWT Emergency Management Organization information officer, in the report. The call is so the territory would know how many flights they'll need.
"It's not who you are, it's basically the positions you hold," Edison said during the news conference, according to the report from CTV News.
The evacuation order will be lifted on Sept. 6, and all city residents will be allowed to return. The evacuation order for Yellowknife and the nearby First Nation communities of Ndilo and Dettah was issued on Aug. 16. Over 20,000 residents were forced to leave their homes, according to reports.
In ensuring the health and safety of workers affected by wildfires in British Columbia, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) last month said it will be performing wellness checks on these workers.
Safe roads ahead
The NWT government also ensured that those who will be traveling home from Alberta up to Yellowknife, Dettah, Ndilǫ and along the Ingraham Trail in the coming days will not have to worry about fire hazards along the way.
Over the weekend, strong winds had been expected to whip up fires along Highway 1. This forced the territory to pause the return of some essential workers about 2.5 weeks after the city's workers were forced to leave because of wildfires, according to a CBC report.
The wind event that had been "causing some concern" along the highway had passed.
"As you get ready to travel, we don't see any imminent risks of fire causing challenges on Highway 1 for at least the next three days," said Mike Westwick, a fire information officer for the N.W.T., on Monday afternoon, according to the report.
The widespread wildfires in Canada are bringing about poor air quality, which poses a health risk to workers, said Paul Billings, national vice president for public policy at the American Lung Association, previously said.
In June, the wildfires even forced Google to have staff in New York stay home as wildfire smoke, drifting from Quebec, filled the air in the city and other major metropolitan areas.
Westwick, meanwhile, also reminded people who will be driving home to drive carefully keep workers along the highway safe.
"Their biggest hazard on their jobsite is your vehicle," he said.