Residents of Yellowknife, one of the largest cities in Canada's far north, were ordered on Wednesday to flee amid warnings that fast-moving blazes could reach the area by the weekend.
The city's nearly 20,000 residents have been ordered to leave by noon Friday. There is only one highway open to the south. Commercial and military flights were also being arranged.
Since the weekend, thousands of people living in small rural communities threatened by the wildfires in the Northwest Territories have been evacuated south.
Approximately 700 people arrived at a reception center in the city of Grande Prairie, Alberta, on Tuesday.
They had reached safety after enduring long drives that lasted more than 14 hours.
Outside the reception center, evacuees waited for news. Some were preparing for the worst but were relieved to hear their houses were still standing.
"Last night, with the rain, it changed everything and today, I feel so much happier, it's more reassuring that hopefully sometime soon we can go back," said a woman surrounded by her children.
The crisis in the town of Yellowknife is the newest chapter of a terrible summer for wildfires in Canada, as flames spread quickly across the country, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate and charring large swathes of land.
Most evacuees from the Northwest Territories are staying in Grande Prairie but the city is running out of space to host them. The latest evacuation orders will certainly exacerbate the problem.
Authorities have opened a new shelter in the city of St.Albert, approximately 500 kilometres southeast of Grande-Prairie.
More than 1,000 wildfires are currently burning across Canada, including about 230 in the Northwest Territories.
