Canada NW Territories: Wildfires force hundreds to evacuate; Heating Planet project at CofA Blog

"A wildfire about 80,000 hectares in size, that's larger than the city of Toronto, moved fast and furious overnight [Video/ Transcript] Evacuation came in the morning as smoke became visible on the horizon." CBC News

 

TRANSCRIPT: Juanita Taylor's in Hay River tonight. 0:02 And Juanita, you've been speaking to Fort 0:03 Providence evacuees as well as fire 0:06 officials. 0:10 That's right, Ian. The people from Fort 0:12 Providence are fleeing a wildfire that 0:15 is about 80,000 hectares in size. That's 0:18 larger than the city of Toronto. It 0:20 moved fast and furious overnight when 0:22 strong northerly winds pushed it just 2 0:25 kilometers from the community, putting 0:27 roughly 700 residents on edge. The 0:30 evacuation came in the morning as smoke 0:33 became visible on the horizon. 0:35 It's just really red, big red. You could 0:39 just hear go like sounds scary. 0:43 You ever seen something like that 0:44 before? 0:45 Um, no. Not right. Residents told to 0:48 flee to Hay River, a 180 kilometer 0:51 drive. Some brought in by bus. So when 0:54 they told you to evacuate this morning, 0:56 what did you do? 0:57 I jumped right up. Packed up right away. 1:00 No, I already packed up, but I was like 1:02 checking, make sure everything was 1:04 closed and lock the door. 1:05 Those who made it to the evacuation 1:07 center uncertain of what will come next. 1:10 There's a pretty good chance that it 1:11 could reach the edge of the community 1:13 tonight if the weather forecast does pan 1:15 out as it uh as it is expected to. 1:18 The host town of Hay River itself has 1:20 gone through evacuations of its own. 1:22 Three since 2022. 1:25 We've went through many evacuations and 1:27 and have seen communities step up 1:29 whether it's in the Northwest 1:30 Territories or in the South. It puts a 1:32 lot of stresses on communities, but 1:34 we're in good shape. We're in good shape 1:35 to host 1:37 and Ian, the next few hours could be 1:39 critical. A shift in the winds could 1:41 move the flames even closer to Fort 1:44 Providence, leaving people here watching 1:46 closely. 1:48 And Wita, what else do we know about 1:49 what's happening inside the community? 1:55 Well, while residents have been told to 1:56 get out, there are people in Fort 1:59 Providence trying to protect it. They've 2:01 been putting up sprinklers and water 2:03 cannons trying to soak the edge of the 2:05 hamlet to slow the flames if they get 2:08 closer and to protect the homes so that 2:10 people have something to go back to. Ian 2:13 Wita Taylor in Hay River Northwest 2:16 Territories. 2:17 [Music