Fire crews battling to save the hamlet of Fort Providence, Northwest Territories were looking ahead to a tough day Wednesday, after favourable weather conditions Tuesday helped their effort against a wildfire burning less than a kilometre from the community.

“Sustained gusting between 25 and 40 kilometres per hour is in the forecast right now,” NWT fire information officer Mike Westwick told CBC. “And you know, the levels of moisture in the air, the relative humidity at a point that would sustain decent fire activity. And with the fire right on the community’s doorstep… that’s obviously a significant concern.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, NWT Environment and Climate Change was reporting that the fire, designated SS014-25, was out of control across 102,270 hectares in the territory’s South Slave region, almost two months after it was started by lightning July 7. It had reached within 900 metres of the southeastern edge of Fort Providence, population about 700, and within one to 2.5 kilometres of a firebreak along the northern edge of town.

Across the NWT, the department was reporting 757,105 hectares affected, with 90 out of 106 active fires still out of control. On Tuesday evening, CBC reported that Premier R.J. Simpson had requested additional resources from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

While winds in Fort Providence Tuesday were “not expected to caused significant progression towards the community,” the NWT government said, humidity at 30 to 35% and temperature in the low to mid-20s Celsius “could support increased fire activity and growth to the west.”

Fort Providence was evacuated Sunday, CBC writes, with most residents sent to Hay River, about 180 kilometres away by road. Emergency and essential workers were sent out of the community Monday, while firefighters stayed back to expand “fuel-free areas” and fight the blaze with water cannon, sprinklers, helicopters, and air tankers.

Highway 3 between Fort Providence and Yellowknife reopened Monday, though officials warned it could close again at any time. Meanwhile, “it may be very smoky and drivers must drive cautiously,” the NWT Department of Infrastructure wrote in an email.

CBC has details on the evacuation, the tough, often emotional experience for Fort Providence residents, and the emergency relief available to them from the territory.

Elsewhere, residents of Whatì, a town of 600 almost due north of Fort Providence, were still in Yellowknife after evacuating Friday. The fire was holding at seven kilometres from the community, though it was spreading south. The community of Jean Marie River was under evacuation alert, with residents poised to leave on short notice.

While parts of the NWT burned, most of Alberta and western Saskatchewan were facing “very poor” air quality, The Canadian Press reported Tuesday, with what the news agency called a “smelly haze” expected to last until later in the week. “We are starting to see things improving a little bit in Saskatchewan, but Alberta’s still seeing quite a bit of poorer quality,” said Environment Canada scientist Christy Climenhaga, adding that seniors, babies, and people with pre-existing health conditions were most at risk.

“When you see smoke to this extent, when you have air quality health index values of 10 or 10 plus, you really want to be limiting your time outside as much as you can and keeping your doors and windows closed,” Climenhaga said.

Some evacuation orders were lifted Tuesday in Nova Scotia, three weeks after the Long Lake fire in Annapolis County forced almost 500 households to evacuate and ultimately destroyed 20 homes, CP said. The fire “has continued to burn out of control amid drought-like conditions, but its advance to the east has been stalled by the creation of large fire breaks cut from the woods with heavy equipment.”

On Monday, the Weather Network said wildfires across Canada were continuing to escalate, especially in the Western provinces, with 4,758 fires consuming more than 7.8 million hectares as of August 27, making 2025 the country’s second-worst wildfire season ever. Two-thirds of the burned area was in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

“Western Canada remains in the grip of an extreme heat wave this week, with temperatures running 10 to +15°C above normal,” TWN wrote. “Dry fuels and extreme heat have created explosive fire conditions.”