Armed Forces members mobilize in Northwest Territories to help battle wildfires

Dense plumes of smoke streamed from dozens of large fires in the Northwest Territories, including several that raged around Yellowknife, the province’s capital and largest city. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image on August 8, 2023. (NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview.)

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces are set to be mobilized in the Northwest Territories today as wildfires threaten communities, including the capital, and hundreds of people have been airlifted to safety.

The military is expected to send a helicopter and Twin Otter airplane along with 124 soldiers, with 100 set to help with firefighting tasks such as dousing hot spots and clearing areas, and the other 24 co-ordinating logistics.

The City of Yellowknife declared a state of local emergency Monday night, citing an imminent wildfire threat.

It said in a tweet that such declarations are made when it is determined additional powers are needed to take immediate action, such as taking over the use of vehicles or property to respond to an emergency or authorizing qualified people to provide services or aid.

There are currently over 230 active wildfires in the territory, and five communities have been evacuated.

More than 21,000 square kilometres have burned so far this year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2023.