Firefighters worked to keep open the only route out of the capital of Canada's Northwest Territories as a wildfire moved closer to the city of 20,000 and...
Firefighters worked to keep open the only route out of the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories as a wildfire moved closer to the city of 20,000 and residents rushed to beat a noon Friday deadline to evacuate.
The city was virtually empty Friday, with one grocery store, a pharmacy and a bar still open, the Canadian Press reported. Kieron Testart, who was going door-to-door checking on people, said it’s “kind of like having a pint at the end of the world.” Alice Liske left Yellowknife by road with her six kids earlier this week because the air quality was so bad. She worried about how so many people would flee the city in such a short time.Canada has seen a record number of wildfires this year — contributing to choking smoke in parts of the U.S. — with more than 5,700 fires burning more than 137,000 square kilometers from one end of Canada to the other, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
“It’s one of those events where you need to get people out sooner rather than later” because of the danger the fire could block the only escape route even before reaching the community.
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