Fort Smith (May 31/04) - A wildfire temporarily closed the highway to Fort Smith on May 25.

The three-hectare blaze began at a small sawmill owned by Conrad Plamondon. An unoccupied house trailer, a garage and a shed at the sawmill property were destroyed.

The cost of the damages is undetermined.

The fire was located just over 20km west of Fort Smith, where Highway #5 crosses the Salt River.

The RCMP closed the highway for about an hour and a half because of thick smoke.

The fire also burned in an open area of grass and shrub and entered a stand of poplar trees, says Jack Bird, the regional duty officer at RWED's Fire Centre in Fort Smith.

The blaze, which jumped across the highway, began mid-afternoon and was under control by 8:30 p.m.

Fort Smith RCMP Sgt. Craig Seafoot says an investigation was unable to determine the cause of the fire. "There was no evidence of neglect or wrongdoing."

There are about five homes within a kilometre of the fire, but none were damaged.

The Fort Smith Fire Department initially responded to the fire and reported it to RWED, which sent three crews, a bulldozer and the CL-215 air tanker group based in Fort Smith.

"We committed most of our resources to it," Bird says.

The waterbombers had to reload at the airport because there is still ice on area lakes.

A Department of Transportation crew, which was working nearby, also helped out with a water bladder, a small bulldozer and two water tankers.