Radar footage shared Sunday shows a slew of wildfires erupting in Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT), threatening the towns of Yellowknife, Hay River and Fort Smith.
Hundreds of thousands of acres were burned in just a few hours, taking out telecommunications to the area, according to meteorologist Colin McCarthy. The region has requested federal help to survive the inferno, but the Military Reinforcements won’t arrive in the area until Tuesday, CabinRadio reported.
“We stand with the people of the Northwest Territories as they deal with serious wildfires. In response to a request for assistance, the Canadian Armed Forces will help with firefighting efforts, air transportation, and planning, coordination and logistics,” Canada’s Minister of National Defense Bill Blair said of the situation, according to CabinRadio.
Thousands of Fort Smith residents were initially forced to evacuate to Hay River on Saturday, CBC reported. A day later, everyone was evacuated from Hay River due to another wildfire.
August is typically when wildfire season slows across the NWT, but there are currently 230 wildfires burning in the area, according to CabinRadio. There are very few transportation routes through the region, which means firefighters are waiting for the fires to burn across the highway so they can assess the air quality and hopefully have people evacuate. The fire still had yet to make the leap as of Sunday.
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