Major Highway 1 closure, new fire burning near Checkpoint

Highway 1 has closed from the Liard Crossing ferry to the Highway 3 intersection south of Fort Providence, the NWT’s Department of Infrastructure says.

That closure came after NWT Fire reported a new, naturally caused wildfire about 12 km north of the Checkpoint intersection near the highway to and from Fort Simpson.

An older wildfire is already burning to the east along Highway 1 in the vicinity of Redknife River.

The entire stretch of Highway 1 west of the Highway 3 intersection to Fort Simpson is closed, the department said at 4:45pm on Monday – a section running to hundreds of kilometres.

Road conditions may fluctuate into the evening. Check the GNWT’s highway conditions page for the latest.

The fire north of Checkpoint was discovered earlier on Monday and has been given the designation FS005 according to a national wildfire database and NWT Fire’s map.

It’s currently listed as half a hectare in size.

NWT Fire said the fire “will be action” and is being blown east and north by the wind.

“It likely won’t blow closer to the community under the winds today, though people can expect to see smoke,” NWT Fire stated.

Residents at Checkpoint, which lies on the intersection of Highway 1 and Highway 7, said there was no sign of the fire from their vantage point.

Satellites have detected hotspots about a kilometre to the west of Highway 1. The hotspots are about 25 km south, as the crow flies, from the Liard River crossing to Fort Simpson itself.