Northwestern Canadian Territories Fires
As one of the several wildfires raging across the territory moves closer to the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories, residents were ordered to leave their homes. The fire showed no signs of slowing down as thousands of people traveled great distances for safety and waited in line for rescue planes. On Thursday, the fire was only ten kilometers from the northern edge of Yellowknife, and authorities were concerned that the flames may spread toward the only roadway providing a route out.
According to Jennifer Young, director of corporate relations for the Northwest Territories Department of Municipal and Community relations, ten flights carrying 1,500 people had departed Yellowknife. She continued by saying that they wanted to depart on Friday with 22 planes carrying 1800 more people. In a press conference, a government minister for the Territories said, “I want to be clear that the city is not in immediate danger and that there is a safe window for residents to leave the city by road and by air.” Without rain, she said, “it’s possible that by the weekend (the fire) will spread to the city’s outskirts.”
In Canada, there were more than 5,700 fires burning more than 137,000 square kilometers this year, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
On Thursday night, there were 1046 wildfires raging throughout the nation, more than half of which were out of control. In the Northwest Territories, 268 wildfires have consumed more than 21,000 square kilometers. The mayor of Yellowknife, Rebecca Alty, said on Thursday night that there were other concerns besides the fire. We urge all residents to leave as soon as possible due to the impending severe smoke, she stated. The fire didn’t spread as quickly as anticipated, which was excellent news, she said. But she said, “It is still coming.”
In eight other settlements around the area, some 6,800 people had already been compelled to leave their homes. According to officials, a critical care unit at a hospital in Yellowknife will close on Friday, and in-patient units from Stanton Territorial Hospital may be relocated soon after. On its website, the Health and Social Services Authority said that the majority of patients in long-term care were also moved to facilities in the south. Officials said that three locations in the province of Alberta may provide assistance to evacuees who couldn’t find a place to stay; the nearest of these was more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) away from Yellowknife.The Wednesday night evacuation order covers Yellowknife as well as the nearby First Nations settlements of Ndilo and Dettah.
