MADRID, 17 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The fires that affect the Northwest Territories of Canada have led the authorities to recommend the complete evacuation of the regional capital, Yellowknife, where more than 20,000 people live, since the advance of the fire “represents a real threat to the city” .
This has been warned by the local person in charge of the Environment, Shane Thompson, since although there is no “immediate” danger of the flames reaching the town – this Wednesday they were 17 kilometers away – the Government does consider it necessary to start as soon as possible. before the evacuations for the time and the complications that it implies.
In this sense, it has urged the inhabitants of the areas that may be in the most danger to leave as soon as possible, while those who cannot evacuate the city by car should contact the authorities to leave by plane starting this Thursday, reports the public television network CBC.
“The window of opportunity right now allows us to evacuate everyone safely,” Thompson has emphasized, who has made no secret that this may not be the case in the coming days. The minister has indicated that safety on the motorway is guaranteed and that the emergency services will be pending in the areas that may be most affected by smoke.
The head of the Government of the Northwest Territories, Caroline Cochrane, has also called on the population to abide by the warnings from the authorities and at the same time “remain calm”, in a situation that she herself has recognized “full of uncertainty”. “We are all tired of the words are precedents, but there is no other way to describe this situation”, she has underlined in her account of the social network X (former Twitter).
The central government of the North American country has also turned to the situation in the Northwest Territories and the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has promised to provide “all the resources that are necessary”, something that he has personally conveyed to Cochrane in a telephone conversation.
Canada has been experiencing one of its worst waves of fires for weeks, with more than a thousand active fires. The authorities estimate the number of burned hectares to date at more than 13 million, a figure without historical precedent.
