— We are by no means out of danger yet. It is still a serious situation. It is not safe to return, said Mike Westwick, a spokesman for local fire protection authorities.
More than 380 fires are raging in the province of British Columbia, about 150 of them out of control, according to The Canadian Press news agency. In addition, there are about 230 fires in the Northwest Territories where the city of Yellowknife is located.
Yellowknife’s approximately 20,000 residents have had to leave the city in recent days.
— But I want to be clear, a little rain doesn’t mean it’s safe to come back home, says the territory’s environment and climate minister Shane Thompson.
On Saturday, authorities said there were safe routes out of Yellowknife. Around 2,600 people were then left in the city.
Canada has seen a record number of wildfires this year. In all, there have been more than 5,700 fires burning more than 137,000 square kilometers from one end of Canada to the other, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
All of British Columbia was under a state of emergency on Saturday. About 35,000 people have been ordered to evacuate wildfire zones across the province and another 30,000 people are being asked to be prepared to evacuate.