Evacuation order issued for N.W.T. community as wildfire nears

SAMBAA K’E, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES – The Northwest Territories government says a community near the Alberta boundary is under an evacuation order due to a nearby wildfire.

N.W.T. fire says the 980-square-kilometre fire is now about 30 kilometres from Sambaa K’e, previously known as Trout Lake.

About 97 people live in the community in the territory’s Dehcho region.

An evacuation centre is being set up in Fort Simpson.

Approximately 490 square kilometres of the wildfire, which spans across the boundary with Alberta, are burning in the territory.

The territory says two crews and two helicopters are working to protect the community from the fire including with sprinklers and by widening the fire break.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2023.