Yellowknife [Canada], August 17 : 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, CNN reported.
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.
Premier Caroline Cochrane said in a statement on Wednesday night: “We’re all tired of the word unprecedented, yet there is no other way to describe this situation in the Northwest Territories.”
“Residents living along the Ingraham Trail, in Dettah, Kam Lake, Grace Lake and Engle Business District are currently at the 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 on Wednesday, as per CNN.
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.”
Those driving out of the Yellowknife area face a potentially perilous journey through heavy smoke and fire. “There were patches of flames on each side as we drove through,” Nadia Byrne told CNN, calling her evacuation the most terrifying experience she’s had, according to CNN.
Byrne, along with four friends and their dogs, left Yellowknife on Tuesday evening and struggled to see – and breathe – while driving.
“We hit a patch where we couldn’t see any of the lines on the road. That lasted 45 minutes,” she said. “We had our N95s on and could barely breathe and our chest and lungs hurt.”
She said the group made it to their destination safely the next morning.
Municipal Affairs Minister Shane Thompson said: “We find ourselves in a crisis situation and our government is using every tool available to assist.”
Thompson declared an emergency for the entire territory on Tuesday, which will allow officials “to access and deploy resources so that we can continue our work to protect residents and communities in a more efficient manner,” he said, according to CNN.
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