Municipal Emergency Plan is deactivated as evacuees from Yellowknife, Ndilo, Dettah and the Ingraham Trail return home

Effective 5 p.m. today, Calgary’s Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) is deactivating the Municipal Emergency Plan, put in place last month to help evacuees from the Northwest Territories.

“We are pleased to report that most of the evacuees from the communities of Yellowknife, Ndilo, Dettah and the Ingraham Trail who were staying here in Calgary have now safely returned home and no longer require our services,” said Coby Duerr, Deputy Chief of CEMA. “We know this has been a difficult time for evacuees and we hope they felt welcomed and supported while staying in Calgary.”

In Calgary, the Municipal Emergency Plan was activated on Aug. 17 to allow better co-ordination in accepting and accommodating displaced residents.

Since that time, The City of Calgary registered 3,900 evacuees from the Northwest Territories and 223 pets.

"Calgary continues to be a city that supports neighbours in need, and I am incredibly grateful to the hotels, transportation providers and businesses that hosted evacuees during a difficult time in their lives,” said Mayor Jyoti Gondek.  “The Calgary Emergency Management Agency team also demonstrated leadership and compassion in dealing with people impacted by the NWT wildfires."

More than 1,300 local hotel rooms were made available to provide accommodation for evacuees.

 “We must give a huge ‘thank you’ to all the hotels that offered up rooms and worked tirelessly with us to ensure the evacuees had the most up-to-date information,” said Duerr. “This included everything from where they do their laundry to how to catch a flight home, and everything in-between. We really relied on them, and we will be forever grateful for their support.”

Reception Centre closes

The City of Calgary’s reception centre for NWT evacuees permanently closed last night. 

Since the evacuation order was lifted on Sept. 6, evacuees from the communities of Yellowknife, Ndilo, Dettah and the Ingraham Trail were able to return home. The final government-sponsored re-entry flights for evacuees from these communities left for Yellowknife Sunday afternoon.

Moving forward, Yellowknife evacuees still in Calgary and in need of assistance getting home, will need to email the Government of the Northwest Territories at disasterassistance@gov.nt.ca for help.

The City of Calgary continues to work with the Government of the Northwest Territories who is providing accommodations and supports to evacuees from the South Slave Region who are still under an evacuation order.

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