The Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society has completed its internal review in the aftermath of the 2023 wildfire events in the Northwest Territories, including the evacuation of Yellowknife. Most of the results of the review are of an internal nature and not for publication.
The Society maintains a VHF repeater system operating on the 2-metre band (and 70-cm band). This system provides continuous radio communication for amateur radio operators in Yellowknife (VE8YK) and in Behchokǫ̀ (VE8RAE). This includes continuous coverage along Highway 3 between the two communities. There is also a range of about 40 km around Yellowknife and Behchokǫ̀. The Society maintained a 24/7 radio watch on the repeater system from about May until the evacuation order of August 16, 2023. Those amateur radio operators remaining in Yellowknife continued to make use of the repeater system. The repeater system also has an operational Internet Relay Linking Project (IRLP) node. That was used at least once with a station calling from the United Kingdom. The repeater system being used during the evacuation to obtain reports of the conditions on Highway 3, including smoke and traffic conditions. The repeater system continued to operate throughout the evacuation. See: Society is Returning to Operation .
The Society's operations described above met the assistance/support available as described at page A-14, Annex C - Non-government Organizations and the Private Sector, of the 2001 Northwest Territories Emergency Plan. The 2018 Emergency Plan had no mention of amateur radio. The Society had no input into the writing of that Plan. The Society was never contacted by the GNWT or the City in respect of emergency telecommunications.
During the lead-up to the evacuation order, the Society obtained access to the VE8PAT station (access had been restricted due to the COVID pandemic) and carried out an inspection of the station. The station was partially operational and it was determined that it could be fully operational using other antennas (the antennas at VE8PAT had a high VSWR on them). The Society also canvassed local radio amateurs (regardless of membership) to construct a list of volunteers to pass on to the Emergency Management Organization (EMO). By the time this list was ready, the emergency evacuation order was issued. A decision was made by the Society Executive not to transmit that list and to follow the order of the Minister. About half of the amateur radio operators in the Northwest Territories were evacuated. The other half remained carrying out essential services but also maintaining amateur radio contact with other stations across North America through regular scheduled radio nets etc.
In the aftermath of the wildfires and evacuation, a number of questions have been raised within the Society and amateur radio community nationally:
- In today's era of Starlink satellite communications, is the backup of the amateur radio service still viable for emergency preparedness?
- What happens when the satellite system goes down? Is that even remotely possible?
- Is the amateur radio service in the Northwest Territories capable of providing any meaningful support to the civil authorities in an emergency - especially in a complex emergency that is on-going and geographically widespread? Consider the fires in Lahaina, Hawaii in August 2023 - there was an operational repeater covering that community, but no actual operators on site.
- Are there enough amateur radio operators to provide any meaningful assistance? Is this not what happened in Lahaina, Maui in 2023 - lots of amateur radio capability but nobody to operate?
- What is the nature of the relations between the Society and local agencies including GNWT and the City of Yellowknive? Hay River? Fort Smith? etc.
The Society notes recent developments occurring with respect to the ARES system under Radio Amateurs of Canda - https://www.rac.ca/community-services-officer/ and the creation of the RAC Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS).
Any comments would be welcomed and can be sent to Ian Rennie (VE8IR) .