Residents in Yellowknife are scrambling to escape the clutches of encroaching flames, as wildfires intensify and threaten to cut off their exit routes. Meanwhile, a separate wildfire in the western province of British Columbia has triggered fresh evacuation orders, prompting a state of emergency in the city of Kelowna.
Kelowna, situated approximately 300km to the east of Vancouver and boasting a population of around 150,000, has declared a state of emergency due to the growing fire threat. Provincial authorities in British Columbia have expressed concern that the upcoming 24 to 48 hours could be exceptionally challenging.
Dawn broke over Kelowna with a fiery glow as hills surrounding the city were engulfed in flames. The wildfires, which had been smoldering since Tuesday, managed to traverse Lake Okanagan and infiltrate parts of Kelowna.
Jason Brolund, the fire chief of West Kelowna, reported a valiant effort to protect the community during the preceding night. He detailed how the fire had transformed the night into day, casting an eerie orange hue across the sky and landscape.
Over 2,400 properties were evacuated, officials confirmed, with thousands more residents poised to depart on short notice if required. The night witnessed the destruction of several structures in West Kelowna due to the advancing blaze. Brolund forecasted that the current day would pose further challenges, given the stronger winds compared to the previous day.
He warned, “Tonight, people will witness that ominous glow once again, and the sight will be more unsettling than imagined.”
This ongoing saga of fires and disruption underscores the gravity of this year’s unprecedented wildfire season in Canada. With over 1,000 active fires raging across the nation, the extent of devastation to both life and land is unignorable.
Farther northeast, approximately 1,425km away, a massive blaze continues to threaten Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories. While the fire made limited progress the previous day, shifting winds could propel it towards the city’s outskirts by the weekend, as indicated by the territorial fire service.
Although successful firefighting efforts have held the fire at bay, the impending winds forecasted for the next two days could push the blaze closer to the city. The fire remains about 15km northwest of Yellowknife, but changing wind patterns pose a growing risk.
Notably, the fire had encroached on both sides of the only highway leading out of Yellowknife, yet the highway has thus far remained open.
Brent Saulnier, a visitor from neighboring Alberta, described the unnerving experience of driving through the flames. “Leaving Yellowknife, you’re driving into the smoke,” he recounted. “It is on fire on both sides of the road … It’s a very surreal experience.”
The local authorities set a deadline of 12pm local time for residents to evacuate the city of approximately 20,000. Mayor Rebecca Alty stressed that the noon cutoff didn’t mean the highway would close then; it was just an urging for residents to leave as soon as possible while conditions remained safe.
Flights out of Yellowknife would also continue beyond the deadline, Alty assured. Calgary, Alberta, had already received 15 evacuation flights from the Northwest Territories, with an additional 26 flights carrying around 2,300 people expected the following day.
The Canadian military played a role in evacuations as well, airlifting 79 individuals the previous day and scheduling more flights for the coming days.
Roughly 65% of the Northwest Territories’ total population of 46,000 were in the process of being evacuated. Firefighting teams were tirelessly creating firebreaks by removing vegetation, implementing sprinkler systems, and deliberately setting controlled fires to eliminate potential fuel sources in the path of the larger inferno, according to the fire service.
Experts have attributed the escalating wildfire crisis to the exacerbating effects of climate change. The combination of drought and high temperatures has led to an increase in both the quantity and intensity of fires this year, with much of Canada experiencing abnormally dry conditions.
As the number of evacuees grew in cities like Grande Prairie and St. Albert, both on the northern outskirts of Edmonton, the cities reached full capacity in their centers. Subsequently, they redirected incoming evacuees to a new center located in Leduc, south of Edmonton.
One evacuee, the Gour family from Hay River, recounted their uncertainty upon receiving alerts while camping. As they headed towards Alberta, Paula Gour emphasized the importance of family during such challenging times. “The only thing that I had in mind was that I had the kids, the dogs, and we had each other and just to get out of there. That’s all you can really think about at that time,” she said.
