Canadian firefighting crews are working relentlessly to prevent the spread of flames towards the northern city of Yellowknife. All 20,000 residents of the city are under evacuation orders as authorities scramble to ensure their safety.
Amidst a thick haze of smoke enveloping the capital of the expansive and sparsely populated Northwest Territories, water bombers have taken to the skies over Yellowknife.
Later on Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to assemble the Incident Response Group, a collective of senior officials and ministers, to address the ongoing crisis. The extreme fires currently impacting Canada mark the nation’s worst-ever wildfire season. Over 1,000 active fires are currently scorching various regions across the country, including 265 in the Northwest Territories. Experts attribute the intensification of these wildfires to the exacerbating effects of climate change.
With a population of merely 46,000 individuals, the Territories lack robust infrastructure. The lone two-lane road connecting Yellowknife to the province of Alberta is a substantial 540 kilometers (335 miles) journey.
Residents have been given until noon local time on Friday to evacuate Yellowknife. The fire, situated about 16 kilometers northeast of the city, threatens to reach its outskirts by Saturday if there’s no precipitation.
To combat the encroaching flames, specialized teams are engaged in clear-cutting trees in close proximity to the city. Additionally, they plan to utilize fire retardant while verifying the functionality of sprinkler systems throughout Yellowknife.
Mayor Rebecca Alty shared that five flights will depart from the airport on Thursday to transport those unable to make the lengthy journey to Alberta by vehicle.
This wildfire season has already scorched approximately 134,000 square kilometers (52,000 square miles) of land in Canada, over six times the 10-year average. Nearly 200,000 individuals have been compelled to evacuate at some point during this season.
The unprecedented scale of the fires is also disrupting industrial and energy production. De Beers, a diamond producer, confirmed that while its Gahcho Kue mine continues operation, several employees from neighboring communities have been evacuated.
This devastating fire emergency has thrust the Territories into an unprecedented crisis. “The territories have never seen anything like this before in terms of wildfire … it’s an unimaginable situation for so many,” remarked Mike Westwick, the territories’ fire information officer, in an interview with the CBC.
The impact of these blazes has also extended to industrial and energy sectors. In a statement, diamond producer De Beers noted that its Gahcho Kue mine, located around 280 kilometers northeast of Yellowknife, remains operational despite evacuations from surrounding areas.
Canada’s history has seen severe wildfires, such as the 2016 Fort McMurray fire that destroyed 10% of structures in the northern Alberta city, leading to the evacuation of 90,000 residents and a shutdown of more than a million barrels per day of oil production. Similarly, in June 2021, 90% of structures in the British Columbia village of Lytton were destroyed following a record-setting temperature spike.
