Northwest Territories wildfires: Hundreds of fires raging in Canada prompt

CNN
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Hundreds of wildfires raging in parts of Canada’s Northwest Territories have prompted officials to issue evacuation orders and declare a state of emergency as the blazes threaten the capital city of Yellowknife.

The state of emergency allows for more resources to aid the more than 230 active fires charring areas across the Northwest Territories, according to Shane Thompson, the minister of the Municipal and Community Affairs.

“We find ourselves in a crisis situation and our government is using every tool available to assist,” Thompson said in a news release.

The mayor of Yellowknife, the capital of Northwest Territories, also issued a local state of emergency followed by an evacuation order for some areas as the fires approached.

The cities of Ndilo, Dettah and Ingram Trail are also under evacuation orders, Northwest Territories officials said in a news release Wednesday. Those who are unable to leave those areas by road may register for evacuation flights that will begin Thursday, officials added.

“Residents living along the Ingraham Trail, in Dettah, Kam Lake, Grace Lake and Engle Business District are currently at highest risk and should evacuate as soon as possible. Other residents have until noon on Friday, August 18, 2023 to evacuate,” officials said in the news release.

The new evacuation orders come as much of the South Slave region – including the town of Hay River – was placed under an evacuation order over the weekend. Roads out of Hay River to the Alberta border and west to Yellowknife were also closed, town officials said in a Facebook post.

“The situation has changed quickly. Strong winds have blown the fire within 10 km (6 miles) of the community. It is anticipated the fire will reach Hay River this evening,” Northwest Territories Fire said in a Facebook update Wednesday evening. “Crews that were in the path of the fire are pulling off for their own safety and are re-positioning to assist in other areas.”

A team from Alberta has been deployed to the Hay River area to lay fire retardant to help stop the fire from spreading, according to Northwest Territories Fire, a Canadian government agency.

“Sprinklers and structure protections are in place and turned on, other operations will continue work when conditions allow,” the agency added.

Meanwhile, evacuees from South Slave were initially advised to go to a reception center in Grande Prairie, but the Government of the Northwest Territories has since rerouted them to a new center in St. Albert, Alberta.

As of Wednesday evening, a total of 236 fires were actively burning across the Northwest Territories, officials said.

Dense smoke wafting south into the US from the raging blazes have led to an air quality alert from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency on Thursday and Friday.

“Heavy ground-level smoke from wildfires in the Northwest Territories of Canada is moving south across central Canada and towards Minnesota on Wednesday,” the National Weather Service warned. “A strong cold front will bring this smoke across the entire state on Thursday.”

Smoke could reach the Minnesota-Canadian border around midnight Thursday, and then possibly move over the Twin Cities around noon and southern Minnesota by 3 p.m. Thursday, the weather service said.

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