Canadian city declares state of local emergency due to wildfires

Yellowknife, the capital city of the Northwest Territories, Canada, declared a state of local emergency due to surrounding wildfires on Monday night.

The declaration was passed at an emergency council meeting Monday evening.

The city said on its official social media that it can exercise precautionary practices and acquire the equipment and resources needed to keep Yellowknife safe.

The declaration was called when a community government determined additional powers were needed to take immediate action in an emergency.

The municipal government said it included taking over the use of vehicles or property to respond to the emergency, evacuating all or a portion of the community.

It stressed that authorising qualified individuals to provide services or aid in emergency responses was necessary.

However, according to its social media announcement, the city is not declaring an evacuation alert or order.

The government of the Northwest Territories issued warnings on Monday advising residents to evacuate some areas as wildfires spread near communities.

The Canadian military was called in on Sunday to assist with firefighting efforts in the Northwest Territories.

Canada is facing its worst wildfire season ever.

According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, there were 1,100 active forest fires in Canada as of Monday night, 236 of which were in the Northwest Territories, second only to British Columbia’s 375.