NWT wildfire evacuees begin landing in Manitoba
Posted August 20, 2023 3:43 pm.
Evacuees from the Northwest Territories fleeing wildfires began arriving in Manitoba Saturday.
The province says a first flight with 15 people landed in Manitoba early in the morning.
“Evacuees are being welcomed at the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, transported to a reception centre and then to their hotel accommodations,” the province said in a statement.
Roughly 3,000 evacuees are expected in Manitoba. Many evacuees have already travelled to different areas of Alberta.
LATEST FROM NORTHWEST TERRITORIES:
- Firefighters take stock of N.W.T. fires as cooler, wet weather expected to end
- ‘Most of the people are now gone’: Yellowknife nearly emptied as fire fight continues
As of Sunday morning, fires remained about 15 kilometres from the deserted, smoky city of Yellowknife, which is almost completely evacuated. Only a couple thousand of the northern capital’s 20,000 people remained, and about half of them are emergency workers.
The fires continued to menace other communities in the territory. Only eight kilometres separated Hay River from the nearest fire, although winds were expected to force those blazes back on themselves Sunday.
Fort Smith wasn’t to be so lucky. Although crews have been building fire breaks and sprinklers lines to protect the town, winds were expected to blow directly into the town.
Environment and Climate Change Minister Shane Thompson says over the last week, 68 per cent of the territory’s population have left due to fires.
