Evacuees from Yellowknife queue up to get gas at Big River Service in Ft. Providence, N.W.T., Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Braden
YELLOWKNIFE – Crews continue to battle wildfires that have forced seven out of every 10 Northwest Territories residents from their homes – or about 30,000 people.
Fire information officer Mike Westwick says one fire remains about 15 kilometres from Yellowknife, the capital of 20,000 and one of multiple communities under an evacuation order.
Westwick says firefighting work at Fort Smith, on the Alberta-N.W.T. boundary, is expected to be particularly challenging given temperatures approaching 30 C.
Flames are about four kilometres from Fort Smith, and Westwick says prevailing winds are threatening to move the fire closer.
He says crews have been busy cutting forest down to the dirt to deprive flames of fuel and sprinklers are working to keep structures safe.
Fires that encroached close to the community of Jean Marie River last week havebeen kept at bay and no structures have been damaged.
Flames remain about eight kilometres from Hay River, on the south end of Great Slave Lake, and Westwick says they expect a challenging week there of hotter and drier conditions and shifting winds.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 22, 2023.
