Canada's largest northern city evacuated as wildfires rage
Residents of Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, have been ordered to evacuate the city by the weekend due to the rapid spread of wildfires, local authorities said, quoted by AFP and Agerpres.
"Unfortunately, the wildfire situation is worsening with a fire west of Yellowknife that poses a real threat," said Northwest Territories Environment Minister Shane Thompson, who ordered the evacuation of the city's 20,000 residents by noon Friday.
Nearly 168,000 people have been evacuated in Canada since the start of a record-breaking wildfire season that currently includes the Northwest Territories, a northern region twice the size of continental France and which currently has 230 active fires.
Located hundreds of kilometres apart, some communities are "extremely difficult" to evacuate by land, explained Mike Westwick, of the territorial fire department, noting that a contingent of 120 soldiers has been deployed to facilitate evacuations by plane.
Canada, which is warming faster than the rest of the planet due to its geographical location, has faced extreme weather events in recent years, with increased intensity and frequency due to climate change.
