About 22,000 people - or roughly half the population in Canada's Northwest Territories - are now displaced in the country's worst fire season on record.
A separate blaze in the west, that threatens Kelowna, British Columbia, has grown one hundredfold in 24 hours.
Officials have warned the fires "are very active and very unpredictable".
"The stress of leaving your home not knowing if it will be there when you return is now a reality faced by thousands," Harjit Sajjan, Canada's minister of emergency preparedness, said at a news conference on Friday.
He said the federal government did not yet know the full extent of the damage wrought in what has been an "incredibly challenging week for Canadians".
The McDougall Creek Wildfire in Kelowna, in the western province of British Columbia, poses a particularly concerning threat to lives and properties after it grew significantly overnight.
Structures have been lost and thousands of people have been ordered to leave their homes in both West Kelowna and Kelowna following explosive overnight growth in the McDougall Creek wildfire.
Officials confirmed early Friday what many who had been watching from across the lake had been speculating at around 3 a.m., that structures had been lost. Traders Cove is expected to be the area that incurred the most damage.
In an online notice, the airport says it is working with the B.C. Wildfire Service, federal officials and airlines to allow regular operations to resume.
"However, the priority is the safety of our community and to allow access to the airspace required by aerial firefighters," the notice says.
According to the airport's website, the vast majority of flights into and out of Kelowna have been cancelled up to early Friday afternoon.
Yellowknife fire information officer Mr Westwick told The Associated Press that the fire did not advance Friday and was still 15 kilometres north-west of Yellowknife, partly because cooler temperatures created less fire activity and cleared some smoke, allowing air tankers to safely fly and drop fire retardant.
As of Friday morning, more than 1,000 wildfires were burning across the country, over half of them out of control.
Roads are jammed up, businesses have shut down and neighbours are on their lawns tossing valuables into their vehicles. "It's very apocalyptic," she said.
Residents are used to the fires because of Kelowna's "California-style climate" but the heat, dryness and wind seen in recent days had created the "perfect conditions for a firestorm", Ms Loewen added.
The airspace around Kelowna International Airport has now been closed to everything other than aerial firefighters.
Read more
Gun Media and Sumo Nottingham released The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Game Sara Sharif murder inquiry remains ongoing; stepmother and uncle are in connection with murderSarah H
Also on site :
- The Princess Bride star Cary Elwes breaks silence on his grief over Rob Reiner’s death: ‘Life is pain without you’
- Eric Dane now in 24-hour care amid ALS diagnosis as estranged wife Rebecca Gayheart shares health update
- My Christmas week in the most miserable place in Britain