N.W.T.'s Highway 3 closed due to fire after cabin, home owners ordered to leave

The highway between Yellowknife and Behchok, N.W.T., was closed at 11 p.m. MT Friday, shortly after people who live along Highway 3 were ordered to leave the area immediately due to wildfire.

In an emergency alert issued shortly after 10 p.m., cabin and home owners between kilometres 276 and 290 of the highway were ordered to get out afterreconnaissance flights revealed a fire burning in the area will probably reach the highway overnight.

The highway,the only road linking Yellowknife to other N.W.T. communities and to Alberta, was then ordered closed between kilometres 246 and 339(almost the entire stretch between Yellowknife and Behchok).Until then, people were advised to drive cautiously and expect poor visibility amid extremely heavy smoke.

People in the area are askedto go to eitherYellowknife or Behchok, neither of which are at risk at this time, and to alert loved ones of their safe arrival.

Favourable winds are expected to slow the fire's growth Saturday, N.W.T. Fire's notice says.

Cabin and home owners who live along the highway were put on notice earlier Friday that the fire could affect the area.Sprinklers wereset up at various properties along the highway.

Video posted to Facebook late Friday showed a dark and smoky road and "raining ashes."