Wildfires out of control force 20,000 residents of Yellowknife, Canada to flee
Wildfires out of control forced 20,000 residents of Yellowknife, Canada to flee. Yellowknife is one of the largest cities in the far north of Canada, residents have been ordered to evacuate on Wednesday (08/16/2023).
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| Residents flee Yellowknife, Canada, on Highway 3 after being ordered to evacuate on Wednesday due to a wildfire heading closer to the city (Photo: Pat Kane/Reuters) |
The policy comes as the threat of expanded wildfires could reach the city over the weekend.
The out-of-control wildfires are a new chapter of the Canadian summer
The crisis in the city is a new chapter in a summer that has caused wildfires in Canada. Fires spread rapidly across the country, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee and scorching vast swathes of land.
More than 1,000 wildfires are burning across the vast country. "Unfortunately, our wildfire situation is worsening with the fire burning west of Yellowknife now posing a real threat to the city," Northwest Territory Environment Minister Shane Thompson said.
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He ordered nearly 20,000 residents of the city to leave by Friday afternoon. There is only one highway open to the south. Commercial and military flights are also being arranged.
The forest fire on Wednesday (08/16/2023) night, has been within 17 kilometers of Yellowknife. "Without rain, it's likely (the fire) will reach the suburbs by the weekend." "You're putting yourself and others at risk if you choose to stay later," he said. Evacuation orders in Yellowknife were followed across northern Canada as firefighters were overwhelmed and retreated in the face of widespread wildfires. This ensures that half the population of the region near the Arctic will soon be displaced.
The Canadian military on Monday (08/14/2023) began flying residents from many small communities in the Northwest Region after the land route was covered by fire. The move is the second time in recent months.
Images shared on social media and on Canadian television showed orange haze covering the region, large swaths of blackened forest. Then melted headlights and peeling paint from the heat of cars and trucks that managed to survive before some land routes became impassable.
A man named Jordan Evoy told AFP this week that he was forced to turn around because evacuation routes were covered in flames. "The fire jumped over my truck and I was worried that the tyres would melt because of the heat that the asphalt was burning," he explained.
During this season, wildfires have spread across Canada with tremendous intensity, forcing 168,000 people to flee their homes and scorching 13.5 million hectares. That's nearly twice the area of the last record of 7.3 million hectares, according to Canada's Interagency Wildfire Centre.
Four people have died so far in wildfires this year. As of Wednesday (16/8), there are nearly 1,100 fires still burning across Canada, including more than 230 in the Northwest Territories.