Canada wildfire: Evacuees flee Yellowknife as fire nears northern city

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Thousands of people fleeing a wildfire on the outskirts of Yellowknife, one of the largest cities in Canada's north, have crowded into the local airport and the road out of town.

Hundreds have also lined up for emergency military evacuation flights.

Local officials have given the 20,000 residents of Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories, a deadline of noon Friday (18:00 GMT) to leave.

As of Thursday, the fire was within 16km (10 miles) of the city.

The Northwest Territories declared a state of emergency late on Tuesday as it battles nearly 240 wildfires.

"Very tough days ahead - with two days of northwest to west-northwest winds on Friday and Saturday, which would push fire towards Yellowknife," the territorial fire service said in a statement on Facebook.

 

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There have been reports of long lines at petrol stations in the city and on the road out of town.

Resident Bill Braden told Global News he was carrying extra petrol with him after a family member told him the line at one gas station stretched a kilometre in length.

Police advised drivers to slow down as they reach Fort Providence, about 300km southwest of Yellowknife by road, as a long queue for gas was affecting traffic.

For those not staying with friends or family in other communities, the closest centre for evacuees is 1,100km south of Yellowknife.

Military evacuation flights are scheduled throughout the afternoon and evening on Thursday, with five flights to Calgary, in the neighbouring province of Alberta.

 

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An official deadline to evacuate Yellowknife as a wildfire looms on its outskirts has lapsed, as residents scramble to leave by air and road.

About 22,000 people - or roughly half the population in Canada's Northwest Territories - are now displaced in the country's worst fire season on record.

A separate blaze in the west, that threatens Kelowna, British Columbia, has grown one hundredfold in 24 hours.

Officials have warned the fires "are very active and very unpredictable".

"The stress of leaving your home not knowing if it will be there when you return is now a reality faced by thousands," Harjit Sajjan, Canada's minister of emergency preparedness, said at a news conference on Friday.

He said the federal government did not yet know the full extent of the damage wrought in what has been an "incredibly challenging week for Canadians".

 

The McDougall Creek Wildfire in Kelowna, in the western province of British Columbia, poses a particularly concerning threat to lives and properties after it grew significantly overnight.