Satellite captures images of wildfire scars near Yellowknife, damage in B.C.'s Okanagan

Satellite images of wildfires in B.C. and N.W.T. Satellite images taken between Aug. 13 and Aug. 17 show wildfire smoke billowing over Yellowknife, N.W.T. and Kelowna, B.C.

Images captured by satellite show the extent of some of the damage caused by wildfires in Canada this summer.

Shortwave-infrared images provided to CTV News by the Canadian Space Agency and Natural Resources Canada show brown scarring among the greenery of the Northwest Territories.

An image of the Yellowknife area captured by the Sentinel-2 satellite, which is part of the European Union's Copernicus Program, on Tuesday, a day before officials ordered the phased evacuation of the capital.

The burn scars show the areas already destroyed by wildfires in the territory. Since the time of the image's capture, Yellowknife's approximately 22,000 people have been told to leave.

The latest forecast suggested winds would shift eastward, directing fires burning west of the city towards populated areas. Other communities in the Northwest Territories have also been evacuated, and the territory is under a state of emergency.

Photos and video of the Yellowknife area showed long lines of vehicles as residents fuelled up and left their homes behind. Others fled through chartered or commercial flights.

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces have been brought in to assist firefighters, and air tankers are also part of the fight.

Two more of these images show an area near Enterprise, a hamlet close to the Alberta border and among the first to be evacuated. The settlement was destroyed by fires.

These images show fire scarring just outside of the community but give an idea of the extent of the damage. They were captured on Sunday and Wednesday.

Devastation from wildfires was visible from the Earth's orbit elsewhere in Canada as well.

Other images captured by Sentinel-2 show damage in the wake of a fire in the Okanagan area of British Columbia.

The satellite imagery shows the Eagle Bluff area, near Osoyoos, B.C., and Oroville, Wash., as they appeared on July 28, July 21, Aug. 2 and Aug. 12.

The first images show the area as it was, while the second and third show smoke during a wildfire that tore through 70 square kilometres of land on both sides of the border. The final images show the damage left behind.

The photos at the bottom show the natural colour, as seen from orbit, while the images at the top are shortwave-infrared, and show smoke, active fire locations and delineation of the area, officials told CTVNews.ca.