July 16, 2026. | 5PM – Community Fire Update
Attention Residents Of Fort Simpson:
The 30+ degree weather and strong winds yesterday resulted in some impressive fires, but the good news is none of them were threatening structures. The North and western edges towards Wrigley were very active, and there was a relatively small but powerful blaze up near the airport. This was actioned once again by the awesome skimmer planes, and caused a highway closure for several hours due to smoke and fires.
Through the several hours of these conditions, no hotspots near the island or any of the Hill subdivisions developed into a large fire. This is a testament to all the amazing work by the wildland and structural fire crews. At the same time, the rapid development and spread of the hotspot fire at the airport is a good example of why the work was necessary in the first place.
With a cold front coming through later today, more strong winds will test the effectiveness of the mop up, as well as knock down even more trees. The first thing you will all notice when you get back is just how open everything is now!
It has been a long road, thank you again for your understanding and patience.
-Village Incident Command