Yellowknife nearly emptied as fire fight continues: ‘Most of the people are now gone’

Nearly all residents have left the capital of the Northwest Territories, where officials say the weather has helped slow the threat of an encroaching wildfire.

An evacuation order issued Wednesday for Yellowknife, a city of 20,000, had a deadline of Friday noon, and RCMP were going door to door urging people to leave.

Officials say more than 19,000 people complied with the evacuation, leaving in streams of vehicles south down the highway or by air on evacuation flights.

They say about 2,600 people remain in the city — 1,000 of them essential workers.

As of Friday night, wind continued to pose an imminent threat and the fire remained about 15 kilometres from the northwest edge of the city.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited some evacuees in Edmonton and commended all for a “thoughtful, orderly evacuation.”

Many evacuees have travelled to different areas of Alberta but some were also being flown to Manitoba.

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Emergency teams, crews working on the fire, utilities workers and the RCMP were among those remaining in the city.

“Yellowknife feels like a ghost town at the moment, that’s for sure,” said Vincent Meslage, an essential worker.

Meslage and a friend spent the better part of Friday driving people to the airport to get on evacuation flights.

“There were some people that were still stressed out, other people remained calm,” he said.

“At the end of the day, most of the people are now gone.”

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2:17 NWT wildfires: Yellowknife residents seek shelter in Alberta

Meslage said the last gas station has closed in Yellowknife. So have all the stores and restaurants.

Smoke lifted briefly in Yellowknife but returned Friday evening.

Mike Westwick, a wildfire information officer, said cooler temperatures and more moisture in the air aided the fight and the fire didn’t move much.

Unfortunately, no rain showed up. There have been major efforts from the air and on the ground but officials said the situation can change quickly.

The weekend forecast shows western winds, hot temperatures and no rain.

“It’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint… we are dealing with a very big fire,” Westwick said.

“A couple good days doesn’t mean we are out of the woods at all.”

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