Canada wildfire: Race to evacuate city as blaze approaches

Canada’s Yellowknife – one of the largest cities in Canada’s far north – is being evacuated amid warnings that a wildfire could reach it by the weekend. 

The 20,000 residents have been given until noon Friday to leave. 

As of late Wednesday, the fire was within 11 miles of the city. Another fire is threatening the community of Hay River. 

A state of emergency was declared in the Northwest Territories late on Tuesday as it battles more than 200 wildfires. 

Shane Thompson, the region’s environment minister, told a press conference on Wednesday that the fires had “taken another turn for the worse” and now represented a “real threat” to Yellowknife.

“I want to stress that the city is not in immediate danger,” he said. “[But] without rain, it is possible [the fire] will reach the city outskirts by the weekend.”

“You put yourself and others at risk if you choose to stay.”