Wildfires prompt evacuations of capital of Canada's Northwest Territories

Hay River, N.W.T. fire evacuees Tanisha Edison and her boyfriend Mason Bruneau go through their belongings at the evacuee center in St. Albert, Alberta, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. (Jason Franson/AP)

YELLOWKNIFE, Northwest Territories — Residents in the capital of Canada's Northwest Territories were ordered to evacuate Wednesday night as wildfires neared the city of 20,000 people.

People in the four areas of Yellowknife at highest risk should leave as soon as possible and residents in other areas have until noon Friday to leave, the Northwest Territories government said.