The N.W.T. government is urging people to register for one of 22 flights out of the capital on Friday as the noon deadline for evacuation approaches.
A government spokesperson said not enough people had yet presented themselves at Sir John Franklin High School to fill the flights.Shane Thompson, N.W.T.'s minister of municipal and community affairs, said 1,537 Yellowknifers were evacuated by air Thursday with the last flight leaving at 11 p.m.
People wait in a school gym after registering to be evacuated from wildfires threatening Yellowknife. "I know it's difficult to leave our homes, your valuables, your memories, but you are the most important."Fire could reach outskirts of Yellowknife by the weekendMike Westwick, a fire information officer in the Northwest Territories, said crews are doing everything possible to slow fires outside the city — but he noted 'there is a possibility this fire reaches the outskirts of Yellowknife by the weekend.
Light rain Thursday did little to help control the advancing fire, Westwick said. Though a cooler day of 16 C is expected Friday, Yellowknife can expect strong winds from the northwest with gusts up to 40 kilometres per hour.Over the past two days, seven water tankers have been working on the fire. Echoing Westwick's concern, Alty said the winds are "not being co-operative" and urged people to immediately approach the evacuation centres.Firebreaks and sprinkler hoses are being deployed around Yellowknife.
Another evacuation order was issued on Thursday morning for the town of Kakisa, N.W.T. It follows an evacuation alert issued for the community nine days ago. An evacuation centre has been set up in Fort Simpson, N.W.T.In its late Thursday update, N.W.T Fire said Behchokǫ, which lies northwest of Yellowknife on the highway route south, is not at risk.The RCMP said Yellowknife Fire responded early Friday morning to a fire on Deh Cho Boulevard in the city's west.
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