LAC LA BICHE - Despite being forced from their Yellowknife home due to wildfires, Rajiv Rawat and Monique Robitaille have had a very positive experience while living temporarily as evacuees in Lac La Biche County.
On Aug. 16, residents of Yellowknife were ordered to evacuate the city, and over the next day and a half more than 26,000 of them fled for safety to evacuation and emergency centres at several communities across Alberta. Rajiv and Monique were among the 124 evacuees from the Northwest Territories who came to Lac La Biche County — and are now heading back home after the evacuation order was dropped earlier this week.
In the days leading up to the announcement, as news and situation reports on the fires seemed to indicate things were looking better, the couple and their two daughters, Aenea and Sunura, -were packing up their belongings and getting ready to roll.
As they were packing up their vehicle on Wednesday, expecting to be on the road Friday, the couple shared some of their experiences with Lakeland This Week.
“This is the driest summer I have ever experienced in the Northwest Territories, and the wildfires have raged consistently over the past few months,” Rawat said, putting down a box of family keepsakes as he took stock of what has been happening around his home. “Communities to the south of Yellowknife such as Enterprise and Hay River were nearly wiped out in the fires, so the government felt it would only be a matter of time before they reached us.”
In the middle of August, the family, including their two cats, loaded essential belongings-including camping gear- into a borrowed truck and headed south, driving until they reached High Level. They left quickly, and didn't really plan for an extended stay.
“We left Yellowknife without lining up any accommodations. Motels in the bigger cities such as Edmonton and Calgary were getting filled up very fast,” Robitaille said, expressing gratitude to friends and the Lac La Biche community for assistance. “Some friends of ours have a farm outside of Edmonton where we would have been able to live in an RV. Luckily, there were motels available in Lac La Biche and were able to secure lodgings."
For the past three weeks, the family has called Lac La Biche's Parkland II Motel their home.
Rawat and Robitaille, who are both employees of the government of the Northwest Territories, made the most of their time in Lac La Biche, visiting provincial parks in the region, going to the beach on a regular basis, checking out the local museum, and even participating in a workshop on stained glass.
Heading back, the family knows they have been lucky.
While it has been deemed safe to return to Yellowknife, several communities in the Northwest Territories-including Hay River and Fort Smith-remain off limits.
“Thankfully, our home is still there, along with our cabin in the woods,” Robitaille stated. “There will be some adjustments as we settle back into our lives in Yellowknife. We plan to stock up on groceries before heading back as the shelves in many stores are currently empty. Also, other services will not be available when we arrive, but hopefully, they will be up and running soon.”
Challenges ahead
During their time in Lac La Biche, the family has gotten to know other evacuees who have also been staying in the community. Many of them are small business owners whose livelihoods have been seriously affected by the wildfires, and as a result, some are facing severe financial issues. Others have health issues.
Robitaille explained that the situation has been very stressful not only for small business owners, but also for those employed by the once-thriving tourism industry, which is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Three weeks is not a short period of time to be away from one’s home and business,” she said. “Luckily, the territorial government will be putting financial supports in place to help people.”
Also helping to reduce the obvious stresses, Rawat said the Lac La Biche community was very welcoming and supportive. The family plans a return trip to the region — for a vacation — in the near future.
“This is a wonderful place to be,” he said. “It’s an amazing little community and people have been so kind to us.”
The Territorial government has issued a call to all residents who were displaced from the Yellowknife area to return home. It is expected that upwards of 15,000 residents will be joining the Robitaille-Rawat family in that return over the next few days.
