The City of Yellowknife has received $10.5 million in invoices related to this summer's fire protection work, and has paid out $2.2 million of that amount. City manager Sheila Bassi-Kellett says more invoices are expected, and it will take some time to pay them all.
A massive effort to protect Yellowknife, involving city and territorial workers, the military, and an army of local contractors, could be put to the test in the coming days as wildfire threatens to reach city limits.
Posted: Feb 09, 2021 10:31 AM CT | Last Updated: February 9
Highway 3 between Yellowknife and Fort Providence in March 2018. The Tlicho Government says six lives were lost on the road between Behchoko and Yellowknife in 2020. (Walter Strong/CBC)
The tragic death of Kelly Washie, who was struck and killed by a transport truck on Dec. 31, has prompted a big discussion about safety on the road between Yellowknife and Behchoko.
In the legislature Monday, Monfwi MLA Jackson Lafferty explained that Washie had wanted to use the restroom, and since there are no washrooms along the road, he had to go outside. He was at the back of the vehicle when a truck went by raising a cloud of snow. Couldn t see anything, Lafferty said. That was when Mr. Washie was struck by this transport truck.