Wildfire near Fort Smith under control, no longer a threat to community
Residents were asked to prepare to evacuate community on Friday
A wildfire burning south of Fort Smith, N.W.T., is now under control.
Community members were told to prepare to evacuate the town on Friday, as the fire burned about five kilometres away on the Alberta side of the border.
Fire officials in Alberta confirmed that the four-hectare blaze is now under control and no longer poses a threat to the community, according to an update Sunday from the N.W.T. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (ENR).
Crews from Alberta, the N.W.T., and Parks Canada responded to the fire on Friday afternoon by dropping water and fire retardant on it.
A news release from the Town of Fort Smith on Sunday said the fire was "completely contained" and would be extinguished.
Other South Slave fires
A fire covering two hectares started burning 12 kilometres east of Fort Smith on Sunday. It's currently under control and being mopped up.
A massive wildfire is burning about 69 kilometres from Fort Resolution. According to ENR, the 2,006-hectare fire was discovered on Thursday and was started by lightning.
The department says the fire was initially attacked and is now being monitored.
Sunday night a fire covering one hectare started 50 kilometres east of Fort Resolution. It's now 20 hectares in size and growing. That fire is being classified as aggressive and out of control, but the community is not currently at risk.
Thunderstorms are in the forecast for the South Slave today.
Burn bans in North Slave
In the North Slave, crews are fighting a 1.5 hectare fire 35 kilometres east of Yellowknife, between Jennejohn Lake and the Ingraham Trail. There is no immediate threat to people or cabins, but fire officials says it's too soon to say whether that could change.
Fire conditions are high to extreme in the North Slave and South Slave regions.
Due to the extremely dry conditions, the City of Yellowknife issued an open air burning ban on Thursday, which is still in effect.
The territorial government has also banned open fires at Fred Henne Territorial Park and the Yellowknife River Day Use Area.
There have been 62 fires in the N.W.T. so far this season. This time last year the number was nearly three times that.