British Columbia Premier David Eby declared a state of provincial emergency Friday evening, amid a rapidly escalating wildfire crisis. “We are facing the worst wildfire season in our province’s history — this unprecedented situation has come to a head this evening,” Eby said.“In the last 24 hours the situation has evolved and deteriorated quite rapidly.
Everyone in the city of Yellowknife was ordered to start evacuating on Wednesday due to nearby wildfires. Northwest Territories Environment and Climate Change Minister Shane Thompson urged residents to leave by noon Friday at a news conference on Wednesday evening. The evacuation will happen in phases, he said.Buses and planes will be available for residents
Debilitating smoke has been hanging over the heads of many in Yellowknife for days and a wildfire on the outskirts of the northern city is growing steadily. “It’s a little unnerving,” said Wayne Langenhan, one of many residents scrambling to sort out an evacuation plan.There was some blue sky Wednesday but that isn’t diminishing the
Canadians returning from Maui have told of harrowing scenes during their escape from the fire-devastated Hawaiian island. Among the evacuees was British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Matthew Taylor, who drove through the ruined town of Lahaina on Thursday and said it resembled a “war zone.”Taylor, who arrived in Vancouver Friday morning on an Air Canada
It was meant to be a romantic, viral stunt, but the flames of love ignited on a Vancouver Island beach have quickly fanned the flames of anger among locals. The video, posted on TikTok last week, depicts a man and a woman standing on Chesterman Beach near Tofino, with the caption, “He said he wanted
A wildland firefighter from Ontario was fatally injured on Friday while helping battle the largest wildfire in B.C. history. According to police, the 25-year-old was working in a remote area, north of Fort St. John, when the UTV he was riding on rolled over a steep drop on a gravel road.“He was transported by helicopter
Another firefighter has been killed during Canada’s worst wildfire season on record. The man from Fort Liard, a hamlet in the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories, died of an injury sustained while battling a wildfire in the Fort Liard district on Saturday afternoon.A Sunday news release from the Government of the Northwest Territories does
After a cool-weather reprieve, wildfire conditions west of Edmonton have become extreme again. On Friday night, an evacuation order was issued for the town of Edson and much of Yellowhead County.An 11 p.m. update from the Town of Edson said crews were seeing live embers and fire in Willmore Park, located about five kilometres south
An “incredibly intense” wildfire burning in British Columbia’s northeast is now just four to five kilometres from the community of Tumbler Ridge, and could reach the outskirts of town at some point Friday, according to the BC Wildfire Service. The fire prompted an evacuation order Thursday afternoon, forcing the community’s 2,400 or so residents to
More than 200 structures, 150 of which are homes, have been destroyed in the ongoing blaze ripping through the Halifax-area communities of Hammonds Plains and Tantallon – one of three out-of-control wildfires straining resources in the province. The blaze broke out Sunday afternoon in the Tantallon area, about a 30-minute drive from downtown Halifax, and