A thunderstorm combined with thick smoke from nearby wildfires gave the sky over Yellowknife a look described as “eerie” and “apocalyptic” on Wednesday evening. People in this city in the Northwest Territories took to social media to post dramatic photos.
More fires than usual
Wildfires occur regularly in the area costing an average $8.5 million annually, but officials say this is the worst season they have seen in decades. They predict it will cost at least $18 million more than average. So far 284 fires have burned. Last year there were 219.
Fires have already scorched more than 10,000 square kilometres and the season does not end until September. That is less than one per cent of the territory’s land mass, but almost twice the area of Canada’s smallest province of Prince Edward Island.
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