SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Yellowknife's only road route out of the city was closed to traffic Wednesday as a forest fire one-tenth the size of Prince Edward Island burned near Highway 3. The highway was later re-opened, but closed again Thursday afternoon as winds shifted and brought the flames back into play.

Forest fires amounting to approximately one-tenth the size of Prince Edward Island forced the closure of Highway 3 on Wednesday. The highway remained closed at press time. - photo courtesy of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources There have been 130 forest fires in the NWT reported since spring, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. - Graeme McNaughton/NNSL graphic

"The fire itself was burning alongside the eastern side of the road for about a seven-kilometre stretch near Birch Creek, about 80 kilometres south of Behchoko, Wednesday," said Del Miller, regional manager for highway operations for the North Slave region with the the Department of Transportation (DOT).

"We decided that the fire and the smoke meant the highway was no longer safe for traffic."

By yesterday morning, the fire along the highway was out or moving away from the road, allowing DOT vehicles to lead convoys of transport trucks through the burn zone, said Miller. However, the convoy operation was terminated yesterday afternoon as winds gusting to 50 km/h brought the flames back. DOT crews could hear the roar of the fire nearby, said Miller.

"At this point the highway is closed," said Miller yesterday at 1:30 p.m. "It's just not safe for vehicles to be travelling on that stretch of road. We hope to have it re-opened to all traffic as soon as possible, but Mother Nature will dictate that."

He said he gets updates from the scene from transportation crews every hour, which they share with the public as quickly as possible.

The department is asking motorists to drive with caution no matter where they are in the territory. Changing wind patterns means smoke can blow across the road, reducing visibility at almost any time at almost any location. Officials are monitoring the Ingraham Trail as nearby fires east of Yellowknife have reduced visibility on that route.

There is no rain in the forecast at all.

Judy McLinton, manager of public affairs and communication for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said the Birch Creek fire is considered a "complex of fires."

"It started as four fires, but has merged into three," she said.

"Our crews flew over the scene Wednesday and continue to assess the situation and put plans together."

She said estimates put the fires at about 500-square-kilometres in size in total.

"We are not currently actively fighting the fire," she said. "No private property or infrastructure is under threat."

Two of the fires on burning on the west side of the highway while the other one is on the east.

McLinton said there have been 44 fires reported in the North Slave region this season.

"Of those, eight are out, 35 are being monitored and one of them, in a remote area, continues to burn out of control."

She believes all of them were started by lightning.

McLinton said this is one of the worst forest fire seasons she's ever seen, with 130 fires reported since spring. There were 247 wildfires reported in the NWT last year, which was also considered a bad year.

"The lack of rain has led to some 130 fires across the NWT this year," she said.

"Normally we'd have about 90 fires reported at this time in the season.

She asks people not to light fires if they don't have to and to otherwise use common sense.

Ben Walker, general manager of the Yellowknife Co-op, said he is not concerned at this point that transport trucks can't get through.

"We have enough stock in the store to supply the needs of our customers at this time," said Walker.

"We do not have plans to fly anything in at this point. We haven't done that since before the Deh Cho Bridge was completed and we don't expect the highway closure to last long enough to force us to do that," he said.

"We're not running out of food,"

Meanwhile, Dr. Andre Corriveau, the NWT's chief public health officer, said the smoke from all those fires can really cause health problems for some people.

"Anyone with respiratory and heart problems can be adversely affected," he said.

"People with those conditions should not exert themselves and young children should also not spend too much time outside when it's smoky.

"For most healthy people it's just an irritant, but for those with chronic health or lung conditions it can be life-threatening."

Corriveau advises people to use air purifiers in their homes and to keep the windows closed if possible.

He expects there have been more visits to the doctor and to the emergency room at Stanton Territorial Hospital by people who have been affected by the smoke.

"You really don't need to monitor the air quality," he said.

"You can tell it's bad when you can smell and see smoke and when your eyes and throat are irritated."

In a news release Wednesday evening, Northwestel advised its Yellowknife customers that there may be service interruptions as a result of the fires.

According to the release, the blaze is posing a risk to the company's fibre optic lines in the area. If damaged, this could potentially lead to a disruption in cellphone and Internet services in the city.

• with files from Graeme McNaughton

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.