Forest Fires in Canada: Area equal to size of Ankara reduced to ashes
Efforts to extinguish and evacuate due to forest fires continue in Canada’s British Columbia and Northwest Territories. While a state of emergency has been declared in British Columbia, almost the entire capital of the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife, has been evacuated. On the other hand, as of August 16th, in Canada where 1,067 forest fires are ongoing, an area of nearly 21,000 square kilometers, roughly the size of Ankara, has turned to ashes.
British Columbia Premier David Eby has stated that the fires rapidly spread and the situation has worsened in the last 24 hours. Eby indicated that around 15,000 people had been evacuated and said, “Due to this rapid deterioration, we are declaring a state of emergency across the province tonight.”
CBC News reported that a significant number of buildings had been damaged in Kelowna, a city with about 150,000 population in the province.
Due to the priority being given to aerial firefighting aircraft combating the forest fires in the city, flights at Kelowna Airport have been halted.
President of the British Columbia Emergency Management, mentioned that evacuation alerts had been issued for 20,000 people in the region and due to the rapidly evolving situation, residents of the area needed to be prepared to recover and leave quickly.
ALMOST NOBODY LEFT IN YELLOWKNIFE
As the ongoing forest fires in Canada’s Northwest Territories approach the capital, Yellowknife, almost nobody is left in the city due to evacuations. Provincial officials stated that within less than 48 hours, approximately 19,000 people had evacuated, leaving only 2,600 residents in the city.
It had been noted that 4 settlements in Yellowknife were at high risk, and evacuation of the local population had begun two days ago due to the flames approaching the city.
AN AREA THE SIZE OF ANKARA REDUCED TO ASHES
As of August 16th, Canada has reported 1,067 ongoing forest fires, with an area of 21,000 square kilometers burned down in the country this year. This area is almost the same size as the surface area of Turkey’s capital, Ankara (24,521 km²).
