Wildfire clean-up continues in Enterprise, NWT

Enterprise’s 2024 spring carnival was a sorely needed opportunity for celebration in a community that has been through more than most over the last few months.

“It was just great fun,” said Sandra McMaster, who became the community’s new mayor in mid-February. “We had great support. We had a lot of our neighbours show up from Fort Smith and Hay River, too.”

Enterprise’s carnival occurred outside the community hall on Saturday, April 6. There were about 50 people in attendance over the course of the day, the mayor estimates, which would have been difficult to imagine late last summer, when residents were evacuated due to the wildfires that ultimately destroyed the majority of the buildings in town.

Many of those residents have yet to return home, because there are only a few homes left standing.

In the months since the fires, insured residents have been busy dealing with insurance companies, while those who didn’t have insurance are being helped by the GNWT’s Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA).

At the same time, MACA has contracted Colliers Project Leaders to handle the substantial task of cleaning up burned lots and clearing out the charred debris that has littered the town since the fires.

Colliers publishes a weekly newsletter to keep residents both in and out of the community apprised of the cleanup’s progress. According to its latest newsletters, the company has already hauled out asbestos and contaminated soil, and has recently been working on the removal of a local silo, and the de-polluting of burned vehicles. The removal of other materials like concrete, scrap metal and tires is still on the to-do list, while “the majority of the trees” in the community will also need to be taken down, as they are likely to be killed by the damage they sustained in the fire, even if they currently appear healthy.

“It really was a slow startup with getting all the environmental studies done, and getting everything just in the right order for MACA and Collier’s,” said McMaster. “I wish it would go quicker, but there’s a lot of work to do.

Related: Price tag for the insured wildfire losses in Northwest Territories

“The biggest challenge that I can see is just getting our people back, and supporting each other and looking after each other,” she added. “Everybody is going through really big challenges and everybody’s situations are different.”

McMaster couldn’t say how long it will take for Enterprise to return to normal, noting that “it’s going to be different for everyone” depending on whether their homes were insured or not. However, she hopes that most of the cleanup will be completed by this summer, at which point the great task of rebuilding can begin in earnest.

Jennifer Young, a spokesperson for MACA, corroborated that estimate, noting that the department “anticipates having all of the clean-up it is overseeing completed by the end of June.”

The complex situation in Enterprise has created confusion and frustration among residents, some of whom have pointed fingers at MACA, others of whom have been critical of the hamlet office, including McMaster’s predecessor Michael St. Amour.

Those feelings have been exacerbated by the rapid approach of another fire season. While MACA has made efforts to safeguard Enterprise against the threat of future fires, apprehension remains about the possibility of further devastation.

“I think a lot of people have a mixture of feelings on that,” said McMaster. “It’s really the unknown. I’m still worried about it. I still have faith that we’ve already burned, so we shouldn’t burn anymore, but I’m worried about the smoke, and the hot-spots that are burning underneath everything.

“It would just be nice to have one summer with no problems.”

McMaster admits her first few months as mayor have been “stressful,” as “anger” continues to smoulder in the community, even months after the last fires fizzled out.

However, she believes that anger is outweighed by the resilience of her fellow residents — resilience that was on full display at the recent spring carnival, where adults mingled and caught up over cups of tea, and children scampered around between games of egg toss and log toss.

“That’s why I got involved for our people,” the new mayor said. “There’s been a lot of anger in the community, but there’s also been a lot of support in the community too. That’s what makes it all worthwhile: the people.

“Being at the carnival, it was really a joy to see the kids back in our community and running around and throwing those logs. Even if they didn’t get the logs very far, it was still great fun seeing everybody back together.”

Feature image: A residential area destroyed by the wildfires is shown in Enterprise, Northwest Territories on Wednesday October 11, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson.