Leadership from the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation in Old Crow are speaking out about what they say is a lack of aid and a lack of consultation from the Yukon government to make firefighting preparations in the face of more than a half-dozen nearby fires.

“Basically, we need a lot more help right now to prepare for a possible worst-case scenario,” Vuntut Gwitchin executive director James Smith told the Star Tuesday.

Yukon Wildland Fire Management assessed the area Tuesday and determined there is no immediate danger to Old Crow, according to fire information officer Mike Fancie.

“We had an experienced wildfire officer fly those fires yesterday and confirm there is no danger from these fires,” Fancie said today.

A Facebook post on Tuesday evening by Yukon Protective Services provided information on seven Old Crow area fires, noting that both the village and Culture Camp are currently safe.

After a week of lightning storms, the number of fires in the Yukon has more than doubled, though most of these are in wilderness areas and are not actively being fought.

The First Nation issued an evacuation alert Monday to make sure residents are ready, should they need to flee. The Yukon government has not yet issued an alert for the area.

Smith’s criticisms relate to what he says is the government’s unwillingness to adequately support the community to prepare if the situation should worsen, and a lack of consultation with the First Nation government on firefighting priorities.

A response to these concerns from the cabinet communications staff said no communities in the Yukon are currently under threat, and the government fully trusts the expertise of Wildland Fire to allocate resources throughout the territory.

“We are always balancing the pressures around the territory,” the statement says.

“The professionals at Wildland Fire are doing a great job to ensure resources are in place and being best allocated and prioritized to protect Yukoners.”

Talking with the Star, Vuntut Gwitchin MLA Annie Blake explained how the village is unique, and put this current situation into historical context.

Old Crow is a remote community of about 250 people, and during the summer, it is only accessible by air or by river.

“Old Crow is a fly-in community,” said Blake, a New Democrat. “It’s a community with limited resources.”

The village was evacuated once before due to wildfire.

In 1990, a fire reached within three kilometres of the town. According to a Star article from the time, armed forces helicopters were used to get residents out. Some of these residents had never before left the village area.

“I’m sure dealing with this fire in Old Crow puts a little fear in the community because of our previous history,” Blake said.

She lived in Old Crow at the time, and said volunteer community members were going door-to-door trying to get children, elders and anyone with disabilities to safety.

“It was just such a rushed situation,” she said.

To be able to fight a fire in an area like Old Crow, Wildland Fire needs to build up a fuel cache, Fancie told a Monday press conference.

By Tuesday morning, Smith said Wildland Fire had only brought in about 12 barrels, and that this is a very small amount should an all-out effort be needed.

The Vuntut Gwitchin have secured their own supply of 5,000 litres of fuel from Air North to be delivered later this week.

Besides the fuel issue, Smith highlighted a lack of on-the-ground Wildland Fire personnel in Old Crow.

Though he said they have received good support from officials in Dawson City and Whitehorse, there are still not enough people in Old Crow to get needed structural protection work done, he believes.

“When they say they have a fire crew here, it’s only two guys,” Smith said. And they’re asking the two of them to do more work than they have hours in the day to do.”

Smith also wants the community more involved in this process.

“They’re trying to keep control of the community and what the community wants to do in regards to getting ready to fight a fire,” Smith said.

Part of the issue is that the government looks at protecting the Old Crow site, but they don’t consider values outside of the village that are important to the Vuntut Gwitchin community, he said.

“(The Vuntut Gwitchin) have their own cabins and their own places in the bush and up the mountain that they want to protect as well, which the Yukon government isn’t very concerned about or doesn’t seem to be very concerned about,” Smith said.

He said locals also have lots of pertinent information to share about how fire moves through the landscape in the areas around Old Crow, but this is not being listened to.

“The community has a lot of historical knowledge around fires in the area,” he said.

Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn addressed some of these issues at the Monday press conference with Fancie, emphasizing that Wildland Fire did not think Old Crow is currently in imminent danger.

“This weekend, I was in touch with the chief of the Old Crow First Nation (Pauline Frost),” he said.

“I know (Sunday) we got them shipments of fuel to the community to alleviate this potential problem. We also have had teams from Inuvik flying in to help with the response.”

Mostyn and Fancie said the Yukon’s firefighting resources are stretched thin. They have requested outside help from other jurisdictions, but with so many fires burning elsewhere, Mostyn said getting additional help in the territory is unlikely at this point.

The 20-member crew here from Nova Scotia also had to leave for rest last weekend.

“In the face of all this, we have to use all the resources we have on hand to best effect in the interest of all Yukoners,” Mostyn said.

“We understand people are nervous.”

It was after seeing these remarks during the press conference that representatives from Vuntut Gwitchin reached out to the Star to tell their side of the story.

Folks in the community were tuned into the press conference, and Smith noted that he heard a lot of talk from Mostyn about all the resources the government is putting in to fighting a fire near the Victoria Gold Corp.’s Eagle gold mine (see p. 3), but not a lot about Old Crow.

At a community dinner that evening, Smith said he had conversations with people who questioned why the Yukon government is so committed to protecting a gold mine, but doesn’t seem to be as interested in protecting their town.

He heard one community member say of the government: “They care more about gold in the ground than they care about people.”

According to an update by Wildland Fire last Saturday, there were 24 firefighters, an air tanker group and an incident management team working the fire near the Eagle gold mine.

Yukon Protective Services provided a map of seven fires in the vicinity of Old Crow in their Facebook post, but Smith said not all area fires are actually on their maps, and one of the fires listed as out had re-ignited.

The post from Yukon Protective Services said that fire is not currently active and the other area fires are either smouldering, expected to burn out, or would have to cross several lakes to get to town.

According to Smith, the two fires they are most concerned about are eight and 14 kilometres from the village.

The community is currently having regular meetings and preparing evacuation plans.

At Monday’s press conference, Fancie said the government has met with the First Nation about evacuation plans.

Yet again though, this is another point where Smith said the consultation is lacking.

He said they came to a tentative agreement that if a fire reached within five kilometres of Old Crow, an evacuation would be considered, but that this conversation amounted to a total of “a couple sentences.”

MLA Blake told the Star she is available if any community members – including Vuntut Gwitchin leadership – need her to advocate for them. She encouraged them to reach out to her office directly.

“At this point, I think it’s so important for people in Old Crow to know if they don’t think their needs are being met while the community deals with a forest fire or a fire that’s near the community then I am here to assist,” she said.