Canada wildfire: all 20000 Yellowknife residents evacuating

Canada wildfire: all 20000 Yellowknife residents evacuating 

On August 17, Canadian firefighting teams were engaged in a battle to prevent wildfires from advancing towards the city of Yellowknife in the northern region. All 20,000 residents of Yellowknife were evacuating the area through car and plane transports due to an official evacuation order.

The capital of the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife, was enveloped in dense smoke as water bombers flew low over the area. Officials indicated that the fire, which was moving at a slow pace, was situated approximately 15 km (10 miles) northwest of the city and could potentially reach its outskirts by Saturday if no rainfall occurs.

Anticipating challenging conditions, the territorial fire service remarked that they were expecting days with northwest to west-northwest winds that might push the fire towards Yellowknife. The service made this statement on their official Facebook page.

Meanwhile, in the province of British Columbia on the Pacific coast, which had been experiencing unusually intense wildfires, authorities cautioned residents to brace for extreme fire circumstances. The director of the wildfire service, Cliff Chapman, warned that the upcoming weather event could be the most demanding in terms of firefighting efforts during the entire summer. The province was anticipating significant fire growth and a test on their firefighting resources across its length from north to south.

In Yellowknife, a large number of individuals stood in queues outside a local high school, waiting to be transported to the airport for evacuation flights bound for the neighboring province of Alberta.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened a meeting of the Incident Response Group specifically to address the wildfires. This group, consisting of senior officials and ministers, comes together during crisis situations.

Defence Minister Bill Blair, speaking to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) following the meeting, mentioned that the federal government was closely monitoring the evacuations and was prepared to swiftly airlift residents if land routes became inaccessible.

This wildfire season had become Canada's most severe, with over 1,000 active fires scorching the nation, including 265 in the Northwest Territories. Experts attributed the heightened wildfire issue to the impact of climate change.

Drought played a significant role in contributing to the number and intensity of fires this year, officials reported, as high temperatures exacerbated the already dry conditions in various parts of Canada.

Territorial Environment Minister Shane Thompson explained that the evacuation order was issued the previous night to provide people with enough time to depart before the weather conditions worsened. He stressed the urgency of the situation, stating that fire conditions can change dramatically and that the current favorable conditions would soon shift.

It was anticipated that about 65% of the population in the Territories, totaling around 46,000 people, would be evacuated. Given the limited infrastructure in the Northwest Territories, there was only a single two-lane road leading out of Yellowknife, extending to the southern province of Alberta.

To address the wildfire threat, teams in Yellowknife were working to clear-cut trees near the city to prevent the flames from spreading. They also planned to use fire retardant and ensure that sprinkler systems were functional.

Canada's two largest airlines announced that they would be adding flights departing from Yellowknife and capping fares following public outrage over exorbitant prices.

Some evacuees were destined for Calgary in Alberta. The city's emergency management director, Iain Bushell, reassured that they were fully prepared to accommodate and support up to 5,000 people for as long as necessary.

A statement from the Northwest Territories fire service on social media indicated that a fire that had posed a threat to Hay River, a community of around 3,000 residents further south near Great Slave Lake, had stalled overnight.

The scale of devastation from the wildfires had been immense, with approximately 134,000 square km (52,000 square miles) of land in Canada being consumed by flames. This was over six times the ten-year average. Throughout the season, nearly 200,000 individuals had been compelled to evacuate at some point.

Officials noted that this wildfire crisis was unprecedented for the territories, and the situation was unimaginable for many. Industrial and energy production had also been affected, with the De Beers diamond producer indicating that while its Gahcho Kue mine was operational, numerous employees from surrounding communities had been evacuated.

In recent years, wildfires had caused significant destruction in Canada. In May 2016, a massive fire in Fort McMurray led to the evacuation of 90,000 residents and disrupted over a million barrels per day of oil output. In June 2021, 90% of the structures in the village of Lytton in British Columbia were destroyed by fire, occurring a day after the region had recorded its highest-ever temperature.