The Government of the Northwest Territories has cancelled a tender for dredging work at the Liard River Ferry Landings, initially scheduled to start in mid-September 2024.

To ensure a safe navigation path for the M.V. Lafferty Ferry, essential dredging work at the Liard River Ferry Landings will be conducted between August 15 and September 18, 2024.

Located at kilometer 457 on Highway 1 near Fort Simpson, a long-reach excavator will remove approximately 8,000 cubic meters of material such as boulders, cobbles and other sediment from the ferry’s path. Work should not delay or change the ferry operation schedule, but the public will be advised of any changes as needed.

Due to the specialized work and parts required for essential maintenance, the Johnny Berens Ferry at the N’Dulee Crossing to Wrigley is currently closed and will be out of service for an extended period.

The closure is not anticipated to last longer than 10 days, but an update will be provided on Thursday, June 27.

We know the importance of our ferries in the NWT in connecting our communities, residents and businesses, and we are working hard to ensure operations resume safely. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Due to current weather conditions the Town of Fort Simpson has implemented a fire ban on open air fires within municipal boundaries.

Effective immediately and until further notice, a fire ban is now also in place for the Fort Simpson and Sambaa Deh Territorial Parks.

Camp stoves, enclosed BBQs and propane-fueled cooking and heating devices are permitted for use in NWT Parks. They must be placed within regulation fire pits and should not emit a flame more than 0.5 metres in diameter and 0.5 metres in height.

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) is planning a brush burn at the Fort Simpson Airport starting today, October 25, 2022.

The controlled burn is required to dispose of brush cut down on airport property that now poses a potential safety hazard. The burn will be monitored by GNWT staff and may take place over several days. 

Residents of Fort Simpson should be aware the burn and smoke may be visible from some sections of Highway 1, the airport and the community.

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Two cabins lost due to wildfire.

Two cabins on Little Doctor Lake outside of Fort Simpson were burned in a wildfire over the weekend.

Wildfire FS-019 was detected at Little Doctor Lake on Saturday, July 10. 

Due to extreme fire behaviour and heavy smoke, crews were unable to access the fire until Sunday, when crews discovered the two burned cabins.

The fire is currently 6500 hectares in size and is classified at out-of-control.

The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation (NWTHC) has taken a proactive approach to addressing concerns related to bed bugs in public housing in Fort Simpson.  Maintenance staff from the Fort Simpson Housing Authority, the NWTHC’s contractual agent that delivers housing services in Fort Simpson, went door-to-door to conduct inspections and determined that at least six units are showing signs of bed bugs, of which the tenants were unaware.  The Authority is taking immediate action to treat these units as they have the equipment and training.  The treatment process takes four hours and th