Heat warnings issued for N.W.T. as fire nears Hay River, West Point First Nation

Heat warnings are in place for a number of areas in the Northwest Territories, including one community where wildfires are blazing just 1.5 kilometres away from the town's centre.

Here's the latest:

• Temperatures, wind forced essential workers from Hay River, firefighters remain
• Temperatures could reach as high as 30 C in parts of N.W.T. today
• Wildfire remains 1.5 km from the centre of Hay River

Environment Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories issued five heat warnings Sunday morning for the Fort Liard, Fort Providence, Fort Simpson, Wrigley and Hay River regions.

Temperatures could reach as high as 28 to 33 C before falling to levels that are more "moderate" by Wednesday, the notices say.

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These warnings come as the territorial government turns its attention to the communities around Hay River, a town along the south shore of Great Slave Lake with a population of 3,500 people. In recent days, Hay River has increasingly come under threat from the ongoing wildfires.

The fire is listed as being even closer – within one kilometre – to West Point First Nation, which is within Hay River, and West Channel, where an historic fishing village is located.

It has also reached and damaged structures around Paradise Garden and Patterson Road. The hamlet of Enterprise has also seen widespread wildfire damage.

"The Town of Hay River, West Point First Nation and surrounding area may be threatened due to … how close this fire (is) to the community, and the extreme weather coming up," a wildfire update Sunday from the Northwest Territories government said.

As of Saturday afternoon, a fire nearly 4,000 square kilometres in size was burning one kilometre west of the town's airport and 1.5 km away from the centre of the community. At that point, the fire had destroyed a cabin and a travel trailer near the shores of Great Slave Lake.

In the update Sunday, the fire appeared to have increased in size to more than 4,000 square kilometres, although its distance to Hay River remained unchanged.

Officials are describing the fire's status as "out of control" but say there has been no recorded structural damage in any of the most populated residential neighbourhoods in Hay River. Critical infrastructure also remains undamaged, the update said.

Since Saturday night, the territorial government says the number of structures lost now includes two cabins and a travel trailer, all west of the town near Great Slave Lake.

"It's a potentially challenging day ahead," Mike Westwick, fire information officer for the Northwest Territories, told CTV News Channel on Sunday.

"But the hard-fought firefighting efforts over the last couple of weeks have put us in a much better place than we were to defend this town, and we're going to be doing absolutely everything in our power to do that."

Along with temperatures of up to 30 C and "extremely dry conditions," territorial officials say winds could start to blow in a southwesterly direction at speeds of 15 km/h, with gusts up to 40 km/h.

"This may cause severe fire activity, and would support growth to the north, and to the east — which may be a risk for growth from the fire's perimeter to the west of the river," the latest update said.

"Firefighting efforts will be focused on addressing these risks. Visibility is a challenge and may make it difficult for aircraft to fly — crew and pilot safety is number one."

However, officials say the wind could shift to the northwest after 7 p.m. local time, "which may provide some relief."

Hay River, along with the other South Slave communities of K'átł'odeeche First Nation, Enterprise and Kakisa, are under evacuation orders because of the fire.

More than 200 personnel, along with 10 helicopters, 21 pieces of heavy equipment and air tankers, are fighting that blaze.

Officials said high temperatures and strong southwest winds caused a "blow-up event" on Friday that sent the wildfire closer to the town.

This forced all essential workers, with the exception of firefighters, to evacuate the community that evening. The military flew two evacuation flights, while another 40 vehicles left by road.

But Westwick said shifting winds to the north helped push the fire back onto itself on Saturday, allowing tankers and helicopters to hit it from the air.

Personnel on the ground are also tackling hot spots outside of the community and continuing to build firebreaks to prevent any other structures from being lost, he added.

Firefighting efforts have continued in other areas of the territory as well, including near the capital, Yellowknife, where a fire about 1,670 square kilometres in size has remained 15 km northwest of the city's boundaries for at least a week and a half.

Addressing those who have left the territory, Westwick said the situation remains unsafe and "volatile" but that there are people "on the ground, in the air, in the territory working desperately to get you home as soon as we can, get you home safe and get you back to a community that's in good shape."

"Hoping to get back soon, that's my home, but safety needs to be first and we need to make sure that all of our operational people are able to get the work that they need to get done, done," he said.

With files from CTVNews.ca Writer-Producer Noushin Ziafati