Yellowknife residents have been ordered to begin evacuating the city immediately as wildfires approach. The evacuation order says residents should leave "according to risk." People living along Ingraham Trail, in Dettah, and the Kam Lake, Grace Lake and the Engle business district in Yellowknife are considered at highest risk and are urged to leave as soon as possible.

Clean, fresh air can be part of the draw for tourists to Canada's North — but they won't find it this week in Yellowknife due to wildfire smoke.

Behchokǫ̀, a community of about 2,000 people northwest of Yellowknife, issued an evacuation order shortly before 6 p.m Monday evening. A wildfire is burning about 25 kilometres to the east of the Behchokǫ̀, and 45 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife. 

Wildfire smoke has been blasting much of the N.W.T. lately, with air quality advisories in nearly every community Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, much of the territory is also coping with record-breaking heat.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has issued heat warnings for Yellowknife and many communities in the South Slave, Sahtu and Beaufort Delta regions — where day time temperatures near 30 C and overnight lows near 20 C are expected in the coming days. People are urged to seek out air conditioned spaces to seek relief.