Wildfires prompt evacuations of capital of Canada's Northwest Territories
NPR Online NewsAug 02, 2023
On Wednesday, residents of Yellowknife, the capital city of Canada's Northwest Territories, were given until noon on Friday to evacuate as a wildfire approaches the city. At the time of the order, the fire was 10 miles (16KM) outside of the city and expected to breach the city limits by the weekend.
In addition to the 20k residents of Yellowknife, the 3k residents of Hay River were swiftly evacuated by bus to escape a rapidly moving wildfire engulfing the area Wednesday night.
As wildfires ravage Canada and smother the US with smoke, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to point the finger at climate change. The warming planet is certainly one of the culprits but not the only entity at fault here. Those suffering under the weight of this wildfire season cannot let Canada escape its responsibility and culpability in its lack of planning, prevention, management, and mitigation. They must own their failures if there is any hope for improvement for future fire seasons.
Canada is witnessing an unprecedented fire season and the impacts are far-reaching. Historically, the nation has been largely reactive to wildfires, suppressing them on a case-by-case basis with no holistic approach to wildfire and forest land management. More recently, however, there has been a shift in policy to increase fire specializations, improve and increase communications and warning systems, and management plans for firefighting by air. While this shift is positive, it will take time for the programs to grow and be effective.