Previously published on the Sisters of St. Joseph website, used with permission.
By Sr. Maggie Beaudette, CSJ, Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada
“August 13, 2023 was a typical Sunday morning. My plans for the day were to attend Mass at Assumption Parish in Hay River, NWT and then possibly travel down the highway to catch the last part of the music jamboree in the hamlet of Enterprise. That afternoon our lives would be changed, and our plans up-ended.”
These are the words that began a blog I wrote on Oct. 2, 2023, titled A Journey Through Wildfire Evacuation. In that reflection, I told my experience of the evacuation in Hay River, NWT, which lasted five weeks.
Excerpt from Sr. Maggie’s blog post last year: “I returned from Mass but did not like the look of the sky, it was too yellow. After watching the Blue Jays baseball game, I noticed a ridge of grey clouds in the sky toward town. The ridge grew deeper, and I thought, ‘There is a fire in the sky.’ As I drove into town, vehicles were lined up at the first gas station and many vehicles were heading out of town. By the time I reached the second gas station, with more than 50 vehicles on either side of the pumps, a huge, ominous mushroom cloud had covered the whole town, black and grey. At that moment, the alert came across my phone to evacuate immediately. Having been in Fort Simpson for two days, I had only a quarter tank of gas, not enough to get very far.” – Sr. Maggie Baudette, A Journey Through Wildfire Evacuation
The words that ended my blog were: “We know that next spring there will be new growth, bright green amid the charred trees still standing and beautiful purple fireweed will bloom.”
Well, spring has come, and summer 2024 has arrived, and the fireweed has grown and blossomed.
(Photos by Sr. Loretta Hagen and Doug Swallow)
The journey did not end with the blog in October of last year.
Little did I realize the deep, lasting effects of that Sunday afternoon in 2023. A strong wind, a certain colour in the sky, the smell of smoke, or smoke blowing in from distant fires, would cause anxiety.
Tears would flow at the most unexpected times or circumstances. It did not matter in which direction I drove that I was not met with vast expanses of burnt trees. Tears would run down my cheeks as I drove.
And then, guilt set in.
Why was I feeling this way when I had not lost my home as many had in Enterprise and in Patterson Road? I did not experience the flames and falling trees as folks did who left, not much later, the one road out, compromised with debris. I was blessed to have been given a ride out, with my cat and a beautiful home to stay in, while others had only a hotel room with children and pets, in some instances.
On three separate occasions, three people who know me well suggested that perhaps I should see a counselor.
In December I took their advice. It was the best decision I could have made. With guidance, I saw that I did lose something in the loss of the trees, in the displacement or perhaps death of some animals and their habitat. I was not able to help, as I would normally do in a crisis.
My feelings were validated, and I was given strategies which would help me in times of anxiety or sadness.
(Photos by Sr. Loretta Hagen and Doug Swallow)
Last week Sr. Loretta Hagen and I drove along the back road to see the fireweed. Yes, that is what people were saying, “The fireweed has come,” as if it were a soothing salve. It gives me hope.
On Saturday we went down the highway to Enterprise. Approximately 90 per cent of homes and structures were destroyed in the fire, and yet the annual music jamboree was held. There was great joy in coming together as a community and yes, tears were shed as we remembered.
Today marks one year since the evacuation alert sounded. Today we see the gift of the fireweed…and resiliency and hope.
(Photos by Sr. Loretta Hagen and Doug Swallow)
(Photos by Sr. Loretta Hagen and Doug Swallow)
Photography by Doug Swallow, Sr. Loretta Hagen
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Sr. Maggie Beaudette, CSJ, has lived and served in the north for some 32 years, including the past 22 years in Hay River, NT, on the south shore of the Great Slave Lake in the Catholic Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith. She is a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph in Canada.