Dozens of Yellowknife wildfire evacuees arrive at the Vancouver airport

Dozens of evacuees who were forced to flee from Yellowknife touched down at Vancouver International Airport Friday afternoon.

The capital city remains under an evacuation order as more than 230 wildfires continue to burn across the Northwest Territories.

An Air Canada flight from Yellowknife brought dozens of residents to YVR, some of whom are still trying to process the drastic events that led them here.

“It’s surreal. It really hasn't hit me yet,” evacuee Laili Ayoubi told CTV News.

“Maybe Yellowknife won't be around,” she continued.

The flight was not a government coordinated arrangement – all on board paid their own way here.

Alberta and Saskatchewan remain the main evacuee partners, but Ayoubi and others on the flight opted not to drive into either province.

"People were saying there were fires on the way down south so we decided to fly,” she said.

"It all happened really quickly, a few days ago they told us we wouldn’t be evacuating, then it went the other way,” said evacuee Michael Gannon, who was accompanied by his dog.

"There were huge lineups on the road out a couple days ago, and those of us that were able to book flights instead of driving out, we did that.”

The evacuees were greeted by members of the City of Vancouver and Salvation Army, but after they left the airport, they were on their own.

The B.C. government is taking in 55 high-priority hospital and long-term care patients who are expected to be brought in on a Canadian armed Forces aircraft, but the Ministry of Health would not confirm whether they had arrived on Friday.

Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Bowinn Ma said beyond those patients, B.C.’s own wildfire crisis must remain the top priority.

“The primary partner for receiving evacuees for the Northwest Territories is Alberta and Saskatchewan, British Columbia really is a secondary partner,” she said at a news conference Friday.

Another Air Canada flight from Yellowknife is scheduled to arrive at YVR Friday night.