Military 'drawing down' support for N.W.T. after 3 weeks helping with wildfire response

The Canadian military says it has finished its work in Yellowknife helping with the wildfire response. Soldiers will be heading back to their home communities in the coming days.

"Following assessments by Territorial Authorities and Public Safety Canada, it has been determined that CAF [Canadian Armed Forces] support is no longer currently required. As such, following 3 weeks of assistance, the CAF support to NWT is drawing down," reads an emailed statement from a Forces spokesperson.

The N.W.T. asked the military for help on Aug. 12, as wildfire threatened several communities including Yellowknife. Within a days, several communities, including the capital, were under evacuation orders.

Military aircraft and personnel helped with the evacuation of Yellowknife, while other soldiers helped with firefighting work in and around Yellowknife and Hay River. 

At the peak in late August, there were about 350 members of the Canadian Forces in the N.W.T. Most had come from bases in Valcartier, Que., or Edmonton.

The emailed statement on Tuesday said that there had been no request at that point from N.W.T. officials, to help return flights for N.W.T. residents. Yellowknife's evacuation order will be lifted Wednesday afternoon.

"We will continue to work closely with our federal and territorial partners to monitor the situation, and will be ready to assist as required," the statement reads.

Meantime, military personnel are in a different part of the territory this week, for their regular training event, Operation Nanook.

About a hundred people are taking part in the event this week in Inuvik, N.W.T. Military personnel do training exercises out on the land, with help from some Canadian Rangers.

"They really know the places to go, and we're just following them and learning a lot from them," said Elizanne Gagnon, commander of the support component of Operation Nanook.