Heavy smoke continues to affect the Old Crow area.

Chief Pauline Frost of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation told the Star this morning their main concern in the community is the smoke.

“We have heavy, dense smoke, and we’ve been in the smoke for a while now and it doesn’t seem to be subsiding a whole lot. It’ll lift a bit today, but then it’s going to stay heavy and dense.”

The chief, whose First Nation has declared a state of emergency, said she is concerned about the prolonged inhalation effects.

“We’re trying to just set up clean air centres. We have one set up now; we’re trying to get some more kits in so we can get into the homes,” she said.

Currently, Old Crow has five clean air kits – and the village needs additional kits.

“We asked for more,” Frost said. “So we bought a whole bunch ourselves; Champagne-Aishihik (First Nation) is sending us a whole bunch as well.”

With their limited supply, Frost said, the kits are going into homes that need them immediately.

“The most important thing for us right now is we have small children in community, babies that are young, you know, one one-year-old or under, and, some children with respiratory RSV illnesses, so we want to make sure we take care of them and get them support and bring them out of community today.

“So that’s our priority at the moment,” she said.

Yukon Protective Services said via Facebook Thursday that the Yukon would be receiving extra firefighting resources today.

“One initial-attack crew from Newfoundland are joining the campaign along with an ignition specialist and a fire behaviour analyst, both from Ontario. Another 20-person unit crew from Nova Scotia is due to arrive next Wednesday.

“We’re grateful for this support and are continuing to look for more help,” reads the post.

They also provided highlights from the fire situation around the Yukon.

“Old Crow is receiving more wildfire planning support. One of Wildland Fire’s most experienced wildfire officers is working (today) on a monitoring and an in-case-it’s-needed response plan for the fires surrounding the community.

“While smoky conditions are expected in Old Crow, it isn’t currently at risk from the wildfires,” the post said.

Chief Frost said they have two firefighters from the Yukon Wildland Fire Management crew as well as the community’s own established fire teams.

“These teams that we’ve established are former Wildland firefighters; we have nine of them in community so they’ve all gone to Wildland Fire Management training, and have been certified by Wildland Fire Management in years previous.

“Although they’re not active under the regime of Wildland Fire. They are skilled and trained.

“We have them on the ready in the event that we need to protect the infrastructure and community,” she said.

Frost said the teams identified have gone out to do a fire break and will go out to for another fire break to protect the community should a fire come near the community.

“We do have fires that have flared up quite close to town,” she said.

She said the teams have gone out to do some critical structural protection on the river close to a fire that’s roughly eight kilometres from Old Crow and put some sprinklers on the units.

“We’ve been assured that if there’s a need, the government will bring in supports, but they don’t see Old Crow as an emergency right now; they have priorities elsewhere is what they’re telling us, so we just need to clearly do what is necessary to protect the best interest of our community,” she told the Star.

Frost also said Old Crow needs comfort and assurance from the government that if a fire were to show up near the community, they will respond appropriately.

“What we understand is that there are priorities elsewhere right now and firefighters are somewhat limited in Yukon given the intensity of the fire out in other communities, here and throughout Canada. So that’s what we need, we need comfort and assurance.”

She also mentioned the equipment in the community is sparse so they ordered in supplies.

“I think it’s appropriate to have all of the proper firefighting equipment in every one of the communities across the Yukon and Old Crow being no different.

“But given that we are isolated, remote, and sometimes it means that a plane can’t land and if a plane can’t land that means we’re on our own,” she said.

“And so it’s essential that we have the tools available to us to fight any impending pressures like fire coming in approaching the community.

“We have an emergency measures plan here in the community helping us now so that’s really great.”

That plan will help with the trigger points, she said, including when to trigger an evacuation, when to trigger the notification to bring in firefighters, and when to formally trigger health risks.

Old Crow’s primary response to evacuate would take community members out by air travel.

She said a secondary option is to travel by boat if necessary, and everyone has been notified to be prepared either way.

“At the moment, we are going to work on getting the mothers and some of the smaller children out of community and just look for an alternative option because it’s going to be this way for a little while,” she continued.

“I think just for comfort and ease of mind for mothers and their small babies. We want to bring them out of community where we can feel better to have them in safer, cleaner air quality. So that’s what we’re looking to do today.”

Last night, a regularly scheduled flight couldn’t land in Old Crow due to the smoke.

“They were not taking any risks against thick smoke and so they flew over once and left,” she said.

She said they received assurances that air medevacs will make every effort to land in an emergency situation.

Frost said concerns coming from the community involve having a quicker evacuation order issued with more specific reasons.

“We are reacting to that today and we will attempt to find an appropriate location to move the families too, and so that’s some of the concerns, and we are absolutely doing everything we can to keep community informed.

The chief thanked community members who have shown up to volunteer their time.

“We have had a really great response from our community,” she said.

“We have people volunteering and cooking in the kitchen, in the clean air space. And in the centre here we have men that have stepped up to do the fire guard and the fire break on the mountain.

“We have people monitoring Fire-watch on the mountain. We have people sitting in the community hall just volunteering their time to keep the centre open and keep the coffee on, the tea on,” Frost said.

Old Crow last faced a forest fire evacuation in the early 1990s.