If we don’t, this kind of summer will become every summer.

October 11, 2023 7:55 AM

"I evacuated from Yellowknife this summer. Coming home was the hardest part." (slMacLean's)

Yellowknife wildfires previously on the Blue

And yes, MacLean's can be a garbage fire but this was worth posting.

posted by Kitteh (12 comments total)

God, that was an emotional read. Jessica Davey-Quantick is a powerful and evocative writer.

Until recently, I worked on a project funding telecommunications infrastructure in rural and remote areas and watching the NWT fire season has hit closer to home because I know those communities from our work. If you come from somewhere further south, even still within Canada, it is hard to fathom the distances and the sparseness of the population up there. Yellowknife is one of the few population centres that is more than a small village, and it is the focal point for services throughout the territory. I can't imagine what evacuating Yellowknife did to the lives of everyone everywhere in NWT.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:29 AM on October 11, 2023 [7 favorites]

I would say she's right in that that area is the bellwether for Canadian climate change effects. And it really is hard for Canadians who live further south to imagine how catastrophic and traumatizing that situation was for its residents.
posted by Kitteh at 8:40 AM on October 11, 2023 [7 favorites]

Just remember, in a regime of runaway greenhouse warming, the hottest Summer in the last 100 years is the coolest Summer in the next 100 years, so enjoy!
posted by jimfl at 9:14 AM on October 11, 2023

Thanks for posting this. I was talking with a Canadian friend last week and was wondering exactly this -- what came after the evacuations. Very glad to get to read this, super worthwhile.
posted by Dashy at 9:21 AM on October 11, 2023

Wow that’s an amazing essay.
posted by Vatnesine at 9:47 AM on October 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

Oooh, the part where she talked about why she stayed. Thanks for posting.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 12:50 PM on October 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

Back in the 90s I was working on a laser printer/copier project and we got a customer complaint from Yellowknife that their machine wasn't working. We tried to look up the location but none of the maps we had went that far North. Turned out it was on a loading dock, open to the outside, and it was so cold it couldn't heat up enough to work.

Only 25 years ago.
posted by tommasz at 2:25 PM on October 11, 2023 [8 favorites]

Oooh, the part where she talked about why she stayed.

"You know that Mr. Rogers quote about looking for the helpers? Being a helper meant I wasn’t someone who needed help... Going off duty was scary because it made me a regular person. And regular people could be hurt."

Thanks for posting this.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 5:26 PM on October 11, 2023 [4 favorites]

The city is different—surrounded now by deep fire breaks, clear cut and scooped out down to the bedrock, built while we were all gone by the crews that remained. Wildfires can get into the root systems and overwinter, coming back to life when the snow melts.

That is astounding. I need to know more about this.
posted by heyho at 6:34 PM on October 11, 2023 [6 favorites]

As an Australian this hits hard. We're looking at another possible killer bushfire season and it kicked off early this year, with remote communities in the Northern Territory suffering the most - and it's not even summer proper here.
posted by Jilder at 9:16 PM on October 11, 2023 [4 favorites]

"Wildfires can get into the root systems and overwinter, coming back to life when the snow melts."
posted by Jane the Brown at 11:59 AM on October 12, 2023

I really though Lytton, BC would be enough to push climate driven catastrophes into the Canadian realpolitik, and yet it keeps being allowed to accelerate. This is terrifying positive carbon feedback. Great essay.
posted by anthill at 5:17 PM on October 12, 2023