Yellowknife wildfire evacuees arrive in Manitoba

Evacuees from the Northwest Territories have begun arriving in Winnipeg as their northern homes remain under a state of emergency.

As wildfires ravage the Northwest Territories, the entire city of Yellowknife is under an evacuation order, with officials urging the city's roughly 20,000 residents and those living in neighbouring areas to get out.

The Province of Manitoba says 3,000 of the territory's residents are coming to Manitoba.

"The Manitoba government is collaborating across agencies and departments and working with the City of Winnipeg and Canadian Red Cross to prepare for the arrival of up to 3,000 evacuees affected by the wildfires in the Northwest Territories," a provincial spokesperson said in an email to CTV News.

It said 15 people arrived early Saturday morning, and all evacuees are being welcomed at the Winnipeg Richardson International Airport. From there, the province says they are being brought to a reception centre and then to a hotel.

The City of Winnipeg says its Office of Emergency Management is working with the province to support the evacuees, including providing transit buses to take the evacuees from the airport to the emergency reception centre in Winnipeg.Many evacuees have already made their way to Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta.

According to the Government of Northwest Territories' evacuation update on its website, the Calgary centre is quickly reaching capacity, and instead is directing flights to Winnipeg. The WAA tells CTV News that it is a minute-by-minute situation, as flights are often changing. it says its role during the evacuations is to support the province as evacuees arrive. 

The Red Cross says it has teams at hotels to welcome people and help them settle.

Michael Juce, president and CEO of the Manitoba Hotels Association, said hotel staff will try to make people comfortable as they check in.

"We all wish they were here for different reasons obviously, and it wasn't a crisis bringing them here,” said Juce. “Our hearts go out to those that are impacted and you know just seeing the images obviously anyone can feel for them, that's got to be tough leaving your home and being so far away."