Residents of Yellowknife, the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories, are evacuating by road and air as a massive wildfire approaches the city of 20,000 people.
The government issued an evacuation order on Wednesday night, giving people until noon on Friday to leave their homes. The fire, which has been burning for over a month, is about 16 km from the city and could reach the outskirts by the weekend without rain.
People in the four areas of Yellowknife at highest risk should leave as soon as possible and residents in other areas have until noon Friday to leave, the Northwest Territories government said. Only those who don’t have the option of leaving by road should register for the flights out, officials added.
“I want to be clear that the city is not in immediate danger and there’s a safe window for residents to leave the city by road and by air,” Shane Thompson, a government minister for the Territories, told a news conference.
The evacuation order also applies to the neighboring First Nations communities of Ndilo and Dettah.
More than 200 wildfires have already burned a widespread area of the Northwest Territories. There were 1,067 active wildfires burning across Canada as of Wednesday. Eight communities totaling nearly 6,800 people, or 15% of the Northwest Territories’ population, have already evacuated, Mike Westwick, the region’s fire information officer, said earlier in the day.
Many highways have been closed and the territory has had what officials called the largest airlift in its history. Canadian Forces personnel are helping firefighters and have flown evacuees out on Hercules aircraft.
Canada has seen a record number of wildfires this year. More than 21,000 square kilometers have burned.
