Heavy smoke from nearby wildfires fills the sky in Yellowknife on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. Thousands of Yellowknife residents have returned home this week as a wildfire evacuation order was lifted. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Angela Gzowski
YELLOWKNIFE – Thousands of Yellowknife residents have returned home this week as a wildfire evacuation order was lifted.
The nearby fire forced the city’s 20,000 residents out of their homes about three weeks ago.
The order for the capital of the Northwest Territories, which also included the First Nation communities of Dettah and N’Dilo, was downgraded Wednesday to an evacuation alert.
Officials say about 1,000 people, including 630 essential workers, had been flown back to the territorial capital by the end of Wednesday and repatriation flights continued today.
At least 1,700 vehicles have also returned to the city this week, although it’s unknown how many people were travelling in each vehicle.
They say about 7,000 vehicles left the city after the evacuation order came into effect on Aug. 16.
There are still thousands of people from Hay River and Fort Smith, who were ordered out days before Yellowknife, that are not able to go back due to wildfires.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 7, 2023.
