While Spanish authorities evacuated over 3,000 people since August 16, 2023, residents of Yellowknife hurried to hit an evacuation deadline
Firefighters in the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife and the northern Canadian city of Yellowknife have been battling to bring massive wildfires under control, according to media reports.
While Spanish authorities evacuated over 3,000 people since August 16, 2023, residents in the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories hurried to hit an August 18 deadline to evacuate their homes.
Firefighters are battling 236 active wildfires across the capital city of Yellowknife — home to around 20,000 people — as well as in numerous other Northwest territories.
Canada’s worst fire season also saw huge lines of vehicles waiting for fuel as hundreds drove kilometres to safety. Many stood in long queues for emergency flights as well.
On August 17, the fire was only 16 kilometres from Yellowknife’s northern tip and officials were concerned that strong northern winds might fan the flames onto the single road leading away from the fire, which was congested with long caravans of cars.
“I want to be clear that the city is not in immediate danger and there’s a safe window for residents to leave the city by road and by air,” Shane Thompson, a minister, said at a press conference.
“Without rain, it is possible it will reach the city outskirts by the weekend,” Thompson added.
On the other hand, the blaze started in Spain when a wildfire in Tenerife National Park flared to 300 hectares. The fire charred nearly 6,424 acres in Tenerife, a popular tourist spot, according to Fernando Clavijo, the Canary Islands regional President.
“It is probably the most complicated fire that we have had on the Canary Islands in the last 40 years,” Clavijo said at a press meet held on August 17, according to local media.
Efforts are focused on preventing the fire from spreading and affecting mainly residential areas close to the coast, he added.
With temperatures in the mid-30°C, which are above typical for this time of year, Tenerife was particularly hot over the weekend and into the first half of this week.
According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, there have been more than 5,700 fires burning across 137,000 square kilometres of Canadian territory this year, a record number that has contributed to stifling smoke in some areas of the United States.
Over half of the 1,046 wildfires burning throughout the country as of August 18 were out of control, according to media reports.
This year, there have been wildfires in several places of the world, including Northern Africa, Hawaii, Canada, and Europe.
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