Some phone lines down in N.W.T., including in Hay River, in midst of evacuations

Phone lines went down in parts of the N.W.T. Sunday eveningat the same time wildfires were forcing several communities to evacuate.

In an email just after 10 p.m.MT,Northwestel said telecommunications have been "severely disrupted" to many communities because of the wildfires in the southern part of the territory.

At that time, Hay River, Enterprise, Fort Smith, Fort Resolution, Fort Providence, Norman Wells, Fort Good Hope,Dln, Tulitaand andJean Marie River had lost service.

Limited service was still available in Inuvik, Tsiigehtchic, Aklavik, Fort McPherson and Tuktoyaktuk.

Northwestel said it does not expect service to be restored quickly because technicians can't get in to the affected areas to repair damaged infrastructure because of the wildfires.

The Town of Hay River said just after 8 p.m. that Northwestel data and phone service had been knocked out locally, limiting the town's ability to communicate with the public.

It said anyone still in the community should gather at the Hay River airport so they can be flown out this evening.

Hay River is one of five N.W.T. communities evacuating today as wildfires, blown by heavy winds, threaten them. It's the second time the town of about 3,500 residents on the southern shore of Great Slave Lake has had to evacuate.

Just after 8 p.m., the RCMP said in an email that wildfires are affecting police phone lines throughout the territory. They asked people to go to local detachments in person if they can't get through by phone.

They added they could not specify which detachments are affected because of "the developing situation."

The announcement came a couple hours after N.W.T. Fire announced its wildfire report line, 1-877-NWT-FIRE, was down. It asked people to report smoke or fire to the wildfire public information line instead at 1-867-445-5484.

Earlier Sunday afternoon, Northwestel said a "network issue" was disrupting internet, phone and TV services for people in numerous southern N.W.T. communities, includingNorman Wells, Fort Good Hope, Tulita,Dln, Fort Providence, Wrigley and Fort Simpson.