City empties as thousands flee wildfire
Wind hinders efforts to contain Canada blaze
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Residents heeded warnings to evacuate the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories as a wildfire burned toward the city of 20,000, while firefighters on Friday battled a growing fire that set homes ablaze in a city in British Columbia.
Thousands of people in Yellowknife drove hundreds of miles to safety, with authorities guiding motorists through fire zones, or waited in long lines lines for emergency flights as the worst fire season on record in Canada showed no signs of easing.
Airtankers flew missions overnight to keep the only route out of Yellowknife open. Meanwhile, a network of fire guards, sprinklers and water cannons was being established to try to protect the city from the fire, which had moved to within 9 miles.
“We’ve still got some really difficult days ahead. There’s no denying that,” said fire information officer Mike Westwick. He said winds from the north and northwest predicted for Friday and Saturday could “push the fires in directions we don’t want them to go.”
Gas stations that still had fuel were open Friday morning, though the city was virtually empty, with one grocery store, a pharmacy and a bar still open.
“It’s kind of like having a pint at the end of the world,” said Kieron Testart, who went door-to-door in the nearby First Nation communities of Dettah and Ndilo to check on people. Indigenous communities have been hit hard by the wildfires, which threaten important cultural activities such as hunting, fishing and gathering native plants.
Hundreds of miles south of Yellowknife, homes were burning in West Kelowna, British Columbia, a city of about 38,000, after a wildfire grew “exponentially worse” than expected overnight, the fire chief said.
Residents had already been ordered to evacuate 2,400 properties, while another 4,800 properties were on evacuation alert. The BC Wildfire Service said the fire grew six times larger overnight and it stretches over 26 square miles.
Some first responders became trapped while rescuing people who failed to evacuate, said Jason Brolund, chief of the West Kelowna fire department, who said residents face another “scary night.” There was no known loss of life.
“There were a number of risks taken to save lives and property last night,” Brolund said at a news conference, describing how first responders had to rescue people who jumped into a lake to avoid the flames. “It didn’t have to be that way.”
In Yellowknife, northwest winds combined with minimal rain were complicating efforts to slow the fire — one of hundreds raging in the territories — which could reach the city limits by the weekend, emergency officials said.
Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty said the fire didn’t advance as much as expected on Thursday, but “it is still coming,” and incoming heavy smoke increases the urgency of evacuating while it’s still possible.