0llie, thank you so much forjoining us, especially under these circumstances. now, i understand you ve been able to flee these fires. just bring us up to date in terms of what took place, what happened and how you re coping where are you now? yeah, so i am now in a small village called fort simpson, which is about 630 kilometres west of yellowknife. it probably sounds like a huge distance it really isn t in northwest territories terms. this place is twice the size of france, it s got 16,000 people in it, so vast scales that we re talking about. this is essentially three communities to the left of yellowknife. and you can just hear a float plane into the distance, by the way. this is the mackenzie river behind me. yellowknife under a full evacuation order, as you probably heard, yesterday. we came out here a day before because, to be frank, the writing has been on the wall for days that that wildfire was going to
line of investigation. wildfires are also causing major problems in canada where thousands of people are rushing to leave a city in the country s north west. fires have been spreading but in recent days they ve threatened the territory s capital, yellowknife. it has a population ofjust 20,000. the next largest city lies 1,000 kilometres away. that makes the emergency response much more difficult. the order to leave came when the fire reached yellowknife s boundaries. 0llie williams is a journalist from yellowknife who, like thousands of other residents, has fled the city. i m now in a small village called fort simpson, which is about 630 kilometres west of yellowknife. probably sounds like a huge distance. it really isn t in northwest territories terms this place is twice
kelowna and west kelowna are under a state of emergency afterfast burning and unpredictable wildfires forced evacuations early friday. in yellowknife, a wildfire continues to move closer to the city. it currently sits about nine miles or 15 kilometres away. residents are still evacuating and officials say flights out of yellowknife will leave every hour. in the last hour i spoke to 0llie williams, a journalist with cabin radio based in yellowknife, who has evacuated to a nearby village. air will become the only option at some point if the fire keeps encroaching further and further towards yellowknife. there is just the one road south to the rest of canada it s a small road, one lane in either direction for about 400 miles, 600 or so kilometres. it is a huge distance there s virtually no infrastructure to get people out by road. so air is the only other alternative, and that means 20 plus flights today, the military adding extra flights on top of that.
the fire started is ongoing, as is an investigation into the emergency management agency s handling of the fires once they ve started. so i think there s lots of speculation as to exactly how they started. but certainly the power lines is one line of investigation. thousands of people are rushing to leave a city in canada s north west as wildfires close in on their remote community. fires have been spreading across canada s sparsely populated northwest territories for months now but in recent days they ve threatened the territory s capital, yellowknife. it has a population ofjust 20,000. the next largest city lies 1000 kilometres away. that makes the emergency response much more difficult. the order to leave came as the fire reached yellowknife s boundaries. 0llie williams is a journalist
in the midst of the wildfires. meanwhile, the search for victims continues at least 111 people are now confirmed dead. whilst the exact cause of the wildfires is being investigated mounting evidence shows downed power lines could have played a role. thousands of people are rushing to leave a city in canada s north west as wildfires close in on their remote community. fires have been spreading across canada s sparsely populated northwest territories for months now, but in recent days they ve threatened the territory s capital, yellowknife. it has a population ofjust 20,000. the next largest city lies 1,000 kilometres away. that makes the emergency response much more difficult. the order to leave came as the fire reached yellowknife s boundaries. 0llie williams is a journalist from yellowknife who has fled the city. he gave us this update a short while ago. i m now in a small village called fort simpson, which is about 630 kilometres