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 who have been ordered to leave the city, he said. Air evacuations will start at 1 p.m. on Thursday, according to the evacuation order from the government.
The government is working with shelters to evacuate homeless residents, Thompson said.
“I want to be clear that the city is not in immediate danger and there is a safe window for residents to leave the city by road and by air,” he told reporters.
“Please take this order seriously and be prepared to leave the city by Friday.”
Emily King, N.W.T’s director of public safety, said the details of the fire risk are being evaluated. Yellowknife has the resources to coordinate the best response and evacuation plan, she said.
Residents are asked to stay with friends and family if possible, she added, but those who need accommodations will be evacuated by air to nearby communities.
“We have worked with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba to identify host communities … The initial host community will be Calgary and we will re-evaluate if necessary,” King told reporters.
King did not specify where in Calgary evacuees can go for accommodations and support but said the N.W.T, government is working with Alberta to figure out a location.
An airplane flies over a neighbourhood in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories on August 16, 2023.
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Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty said the community evacuation was ordered so city staff can implement the evacuation plan while the highways are still open.
She urged residents to only share reliable and accurate information, and residents will be getting evacuation orders on their phones. The Government of Northwest Territories website will be updated with evacuation information, she said.
“This is an incredibly difficult time for everyone. Please look out for each other when you can,” Alty said at Wednesday’s news conference.
The N.W.T. government, in an earlier fire update, said the blaze had advanced slightly overnight and was within 16 kilometres of Yellowknife, home to 20,000 people.
Across the city, residents continued to deal with heavy smoke and falling ash while crews tried to contain the blaze from entering the community.
N.W.T. fire information officer Mike Westwick said the fire could reach the outskirts of Yellowknife by the weekend if it doesn’t rain.
He said fire crews are setting up sprinklers and control lines close to the city to try and keep the city safe. Crews will continue to attack the fire directly to try to slow its path toward Yellowknife.
“The reality is, we’ve been fighting this fire for over a month. This fire has burned deep, this fire has burned hot and it’s found ways through multiple different sets of established lines that were established since the fire began,” Westwick said.
“This is a sign of the season we’re facing and the extraordinary conditions.”
When asked why the public was not informed earlier, government officials said more details were needed to coordinate an evacuation plan.
“(Officials) have been meeting since 9 a.m. We wanted to make sure we had the correct information to provide to the public,” Thompson said.
“We have a process we need to follow.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as new information becomes available.
— More to come…
— With files from The Canadian Press
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