Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last night, when the forest fire was reported, we immediately responded with ground crews and helicopters to get them in the area. We had approximately three crews, around 17 men on that fire on the west flank of it to try to redirect it away from the community of Fort Norman. We've also sent in four CL-215s. I believe by now, it's 2:35, the DC-4s would have left Hay River for Norman Wells. We're also sending in more medium and light helicopters. We're sending in relief crews to relieve the firefighters who have fought fire there all night.

Just previous to walking in the House, I talked to our man in charge in Norman Wells. They're doing everything possible to try to redirect this fire. We had no choice but to pull our firefighters off because the wind had changed. The fire is approximately 4.5 kilometres away from the community of Fort Norman. When the wind changed, we had approximately a 10 kilometre wind. What happened was the smoke came in on the side of the fire that we were fighting, so our visibility for our men was reduced. For safety reasons, we pulled the men off the fire because we may have had a hard time to pick them up with the helicopters due to the smoke.

At the present, they are also doing back burning from Fort Norman to try to create a buffer zone to save the community. All people have been evacuated, except for approximately 30, to Norman Wells. So we are sending in more equipment and trying our best to contain that fire. Thank you.