Thousands of residents have been evacuating Canada’s wildfires.Photo:Bill Braden /The Canadian Press via AP
Bill Braden /The Canadian Press via AP
Thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories as wildfires burned through the region.
On Friday, one fire was reported as being within 10 miles of Yellowknife’s northern edge, according toNBC News, and moving closer to a major highway.
Residents in Yellowknife, the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories and home to around 20,000 people, were working against a Friday noon deadline to evacuate their homes.
On Thursday, 10 planes left Yellowknife carrying 1,500 passengers, with hopes that a further 22 flights would be able to leave on Friday with a further 1,800 passengers, per NBC News.
There are over 200 active wildfires in the Northwest Territories region.BC Wildfire Service/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
BC Wildfire Service/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
“We’re all tired of the word unprecedented, yet there is no other way to describe this situation in the Northwest Territories,” added Caroline Cochrane, Premier of the Northwest Territories, in a statement Wednesday night, according to CNN.
Wildfires have been burning across Canada.BC Wildfire Service/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Per the outlet, Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeaumet with a group of senior government officials and ministers on Thursday to discuss the fires.
Yellowknife resident Ruoy Pineda told CNN about his family’s attempts to evacuate the capital and described the difficult conditions.
“We were not actually fully prepared,” Pineda said. “On the road, we were all scared of what we saw ahead of us, but we keep reminding ourselves it is better to be out than stranded.”
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“On the road you could see the fire and we were struggling because of the smoke,” he continued. “The visibility on the road was very bad. We couldn’t even see if someone was ahead of us. We are very exhausted right now. We’ve barely slept and are very worried about our house in Yellowknife and if we’ll still have a home.”
This is the worst fire season on record in Canada, according to NBC. As of Wednesday, there were 1,067 active wildfires burning across Canada, per CBS.
source: people.com
