Highway 1 now open between Enterprise, N.W.T., and Alberta border

Two sections of Highway 1 in the N.W.T. have reopened to traffic afterbeing closed over an active wildfire.

The N.W.T.'s Departmentof Infrastructure lists Highway 1 as open between kilometre 84, south of Enterprise, N.W.T., and the Alberta border.

Pilot cars are escorting vehicles through the border, the department said in an update.

The highway also reopened earlier on Saturdaybetween the Highway 3 Junctionand theJean Marie River, N.W.T., access road.

That part of the highway was closed Friday when a fire, which was a previously undiscovered holdover fire, had grown to 1,500 hectares.

As of Saturday morning, that fire had grown further, N.W.T. fire information officer Mike Westwick told CBC News.

Westwick said the fire is still not a threat to Jean Marie River, though an N.W.T. fire updateon Friday said there were cabins in the area of the fire.

The fire is about 100 kilometres west of the Enterprise junction at Highway 1 toward Fort Simpson and about 70 kilometressoutheast of Jean Marie River, N.W.T.

'You could see the smoke ahead'

Hay River resident Kim Lea and her husband were in Edmonton for a medical appointment when the highway back into N.W.T. closed on Friday.

After staying the night with some friends in Peace River, they arrived onZama Road, where the closure began at about 9 a.m. on Saturday. She estimatedthere were about a dozen vehicles there.

By about 9:30 a.m., a pilot truck was escorting heralong Highway 35 to the N.W.T.border. They arrived home at about noon, she said.

Lea said there was a lot of smoke on the Alberta side of the border close to the community of Indian Cabins.

"You could see the smoke ahead, a lot of smouldering. Even though we had the air exchange turned off in the vehicle, you could still see the smoke."

After that, she said the drive was "blue skies and sunshine," with no visible signs of fire or smoke on the N.W.T. side of the border.