Yellowknife (May 16/05) - The first forest fire of the season has already been fought in the NWT.

A blaze was reported on May 3 about 27 km southwest of Nahanni Butte.

The fire grew to 301 hectares in a mountainous area before it was brought under control.

"We haven't been able to determine how it started," said Bill Mawdsley, the territorial duty officer with the NWT Fire Centre in Fort Smith.

However, he notes no lightning was detected in the remote area. "We believe it was person-caused, but we can't confirm it."

The fire was fought by a ground crew and a helicopter, and is under control, Mawdsley said on Thursday. "It hasn't been declared out yet."

Technically, it was not the first fire of the season recorded by the NWT Fire Centre.

A small .01 hectare grass fire was reported in Fort Resolution on May 1.

Mawdsley says the grass is very dry. "There's plenty of risk for wildfire."

The NWT Fire Centre records wildfires outside municipal boundaries and national parks.

Mawdsley said it is not uncommon to have fires this early in the season, although they are more common after the Victoria Day holiday.

The peak season for forest fires in the NWT is from mid-June to the end of July.

Based on the so-called drought code, which measures the dryness of the deep duff layer of the forest, conditions are near normal.

"We expect a normal fire season, which would be around 300 fires and about 200,000-500,000 hectares of forest land affected," Mawdsley said.

Last summer, the NWT went 60 days without rain, he noted. That resulted in 297 fires burning 640,000 hectares.