Northwest Territories officials said on Friday evening that more than 19,000 people have fled from Yellowknife due to wildfires and urged those who remain to also leave as soon as possible.
The N.W.T. government on Wednesday ordered Yellowknife’s 20,000 or so residents to leave the capital city — and urged people who couldn’t leave by road to register for flights out of Yellowknife — as a nearby wildfire threatened to reach the city within days.
Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty on Friday evening again urged the roughly five per cent of residents who haven’t left yet to urgently do so.
From the article:
“Those who remain are either trying to protect property or are essential workers who have to stay behind.”