“Hundreds of wildfires burning in Canada’s Northwest Territories have prompted emergency declarations and the evacuation of the capital city of Yellowknife by road and air.
About 20,000 residents in Yellowknife are being urged to get out of the way of fast-moving flames as more than 230 fires char the territory and smoke creeps south, impacting air quality in the US. Yellowknife accounts for about half of the total population of the remote territory, which sits north of Alberta and east of Yukon.
‘We’re all tired of the word unprecedented, yet there is no other way to describe this situation in the Northwest Territories,’ Premier Caroline Cochrane said in a statement Wednesday night.
‘Residents living along the Ingraham Trail, in Dettah, Kam Lake, Grace Lake and Engle Business District are currently at highest risk and should evacuate as soon as possible. Other residents have until noon on Friday, August 18, 2023 to evacuate,’ Northwest Territories officials said in a news release Wednesday.
The community of N’dilo is also under an evacuation order, officials said in the release. Those unable to leave by vehicle can register for an air evacuation, officials said.
‘If you are able to evacuate by road, obey all warning signs, emergency management officials, traffic control devices and posted speed limits,’ Cochrane added. ‘Do not make any rash decisions that can put other people in danger.'”
Read more here via CNN.
Also see NWT wildfire updates via Environment and Climate Change.
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