Canadian firefighters race flames to evacuate Yellowknife

Reuters :
Canadian firefighters are racing against advancing flames on Friday to evacuate all residents from the remote northern city of Yellowknife, with unfavourable winds threatening to complicate one of the biggest rescue efforts of the fire season.

In Yellowknife, the capital city of Northwest Territories, fire crews and water bombers are trying to save the city of about 20,000 people from a massive wildfire that has forced an evacuation order for the entire population.

Some 10 evacuation planes ferried about 1,500 people out of the city on Thursday and about 22 flights are due out on Friday, while scores of people left via road, authorities said.

The massive fire to the northwest of Yellowknife only advanced by around one kilometre on Thursday, officials said, held back by winds.

It is now about 15 km away from the city and authorities expect the fires to reach the outskirts of Yellowknife by the weekend.

“We’re heading into a critical couple of days in management of this wildfire,” Mike Westwick, the fire information officer for Yellowknife told reporters on Thursday.

“Those are winds that will trend both of those fires in directions that we don’t want,” he added.

The expanse of fire risk and disruption to life and land underscores the severity of the worst-on-record Canadian wildfire season this year, with more than 1,000 active fires burning across the country, including 265 in the Northwest Territories.

Experts say climate change has exacerbated the wildfire problem. Drought has been a contributing factor to the number and intensity of this year’s fires, officials say, with high temperatures exacerbating the situation.

Much of Canada has seen abnormally dry conditions.