Alexandre Lepoutre with AFP / Photo credit: SYLVIA WEBSTER / UGC / AFP
Thousands of people living in Canada’s Far North rushed en masse to the small Yellowknife airport on Thursday and formed convoys of cars on the only highway to evacuate from the south this vast territory threatened by numerous forest fires.
More than 20,000 people must evacuate
More than 20,000 people must evacuate Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories (NWT), by Friday noon, threatened by a major uncontrolled blaze about fifteen kilometers from its walls. On Thursday, ten flights evacuated approximately 1,500 residents and at least 22 flights from Yellowknife are scheduled for Friday. The territorial authorities estimate that they can evacuate about a quarter of its residents by air and do not rule out the possibility of continuing this effort on Saturday.
The fire could reach the capital this weekend
It must be said that this operation is a great logistical challenge. It is a remote region of Canada and only one road connects Yellowknife to the rest of the country. Neighboring Alberta to the south is mobilizing during this time by setting up evacuation centers, the closest of which is 1,150 kilometers away from Yellowknife. Military and commercial planes have been chartered to evacuate those without cars.
Authorities fear the wildfire will reach the capital this weekend. “We encourage people to leave now. The fire is coming, and it’s not just the fire, but also the smoke in the next few days that will be very thick,” said Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty. Among the inhabitants, the fear of finding a city razed by the flames is in everyone’s mind.
13.7 million hectares gone up in smoke
Since the spring, Canada has been experiencing a record breaking fire season. 13.7 million hectares – about the size of Greece – have burned in the country since the start of the season, almost double the last record dating from 1989. The country has faced extreme weather events in recent years whose intensity and frequency are increased by global warming.
More than half of the population of the Northwest Territories is under evacuation order, and several other localities across the country, notably in British Columbia (west), are also under an evacuation order or in a state of emergency. ‘alert. The city of West Kelowna, in the center of the province, notably declared a state of emergency at the end of the day Thursday because of a forest fire which is dangerously approaching.