YELLOWKNIFE — Thousands of Yellowknife residents joined road convoys and stood with packed bags in long, snaking lines at the airport Thursday to flee a looming wildfire approaching the capital of the Northwest Territories.
The 20,000 residents of the city and two nearby First Nations have been ordered to be out by noon Friday while crews battle some of the more than 200 blazes that have forced thousands more to retreat to evacuation centres throughout Alberta as far south as Calgary.Premier Caroline Cochrane asked residents leaving by road to obey all warning signs, emergency management officials, traffic control devices and posted speed limits.
The evacuation order issued late Wednesday applies to Yellowknife as well as the nearby communities of Ndilo and Dettah. Linda Croft, general manager of the Big River Service Station in Fort Providence, the main gas station on the highway south of Yellowknife, said the lineup of vehicles was overwhelming.
Canadian Forces personnel have already been busy this week helping firefighters and flying out evacuees on Hercules aircraft. In British Columbia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, vacationing in Tofino, was expected to convene an urgent meeting with ministers and senior officials later Thursday.
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