OTTAWA, Canada: A state of emergency has been declared in Northwest territories of the country that are engulfed by forest fires.
The remote community is destroyed due to the wildfire and the capital Yellowknife is also under threat.
Canadian armed forces have been deployed to combat the wildfire and carry out the evacuation of the people stranded in the area.
Harjit Sajjan, Canadian Federal Emergency Preparedness Minister has said that they were working in close collaboration with the officials of the Northwest Territories to safeguard the community and will deploy necessary resources in managing the unprecedented wildfire season.
Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty has declared an emergency and has informed residents to stay calm and be prepared if the situation changes.
Northwest territory is less than 300 miles from south of the Arctic Circle and has around 20,000 population.
Residents in other regions namely South Slave of the Northwest Territories were asked to evacuate, the area Enterprise has been completely burned down, according to an official.
The fires have been in 13 Canadian provinces, forcing people to leave their homes besides power lines getting destroyed.
The rough estimates suggest that over 130,000 square kilometres area has been burnt and over 168,000 people have been evacuated.
