Canada Calling: How Indian students fled from wildfire in Canadian North

Among those who fled Yellowknife was Ekpreet Singh Brar, a former Indian student who has been residing in the Northwest Territories since 2019. Brar, originally from Bathinda, along with several other Indian students, drove 1450 kilometers south from Yellowknife to Edmonton, Alberta, navigating through thick smoke and wildfire on the Mackenzie Highway.

Ekpreet Singh Brar, a former Indian student.

“The authorities had notified us on Monday, August 14, that we might need to evacuate at any moment. The entire city was engulfed in smoke, making it difficult to breathe, and on the outskirts, we even witnessed a bushfire,” Brar recounted. “Then on Wednesday (Aug. 16), the evacuation orders arrived, and we quickly gathered our documents and other essentials before driving away.”

Driving was a perilous option. The Mackenzie Highway was the sole route to safety, yet it traversed through areas engulfed in flames. In fact, there were reports of people fleeing in melting vehicles from nearby communities that were also under evacuation orders.

But driving was also the only option for many, as flight prices soared to exorbitant levels.

“As soon as it became evident that the city would be evacuated, the airlines drastically raised their prices. Yellowknife is usually just a one-and-a-half-hour flight away from Edmonton. A ticket, which typically costs around 200 Canadian dollars one way, was now priced at nearly 5000 dollars (Rs 3 lakh) one way. So, despite the risk of encountering wildfires along the route, most people opted to drive.”

For context, a round-trip economy-class airfare between Toronto and New Delhi usually hovers around C$ 2000.

“It was only when the media and opposition politicians highlighted the issue that the airline finally lowered the fares,” Brar remarked. However, by that time, most had already begun to pull out their driveways.

“The Canadian armed forces were overseeing the evacuation. Groups of 50 cars were leaving at a time, each group escorted by a military vehicle till Fort Providence (211 kilometers from Yellowknife). Due to extremely poor visibility, the caravan’s speed did not exceed 50 km/h. Along the way, we witnessed trees on fire and several small, scattered communities completely ravaged by the flames,” Brar recalled.

After a challenging three-day drive, Brar and his friends eventually arrived in Edmonton. It’s been over a week since the evacuation, but they are still waiting to return as the threat persists in Yellowknife.

“During my time there, I have never encountered a situation like this. While firefighters are giving their best effort, our only hope lies in rain. We are praying for things to return to normal so that all of us who have been displaced can go back,” Brar concluded.

(The writer is an Ontario-based journalist and broadcaster. X @daksh280)