Fort Smith says fire is contained after N.W.T. issued alert over 'small wildfire'

A fire in Fort Smith that caused the territorial government to send out an alert Monday afternoon is now contained, the town said in a Facebook post.

An alert issued about 10 minutes after 3 p.m. on Monday warned residents of a fire in the area ofAxe Handle Hill, ParkDrive, McDougal Road and Pine Crescent.

The post said the Fort Smith fire department, N.W.T.Fire and Parks Canada are still on site.

Water bombers are on their way and structure protection is in place, the alert stated.

Brad Tuckey, who lives on the back of Axe Handle Hill,across from where the fire was, told CBChe heard sirens and went out to look on his back deck.

"Sure enough, it was quite smoky," he said."I went and grabbed a seat up on my garage and watched the bombers do their work."

Tuckey said the response was quick, and the fire now seemed to be under control.

Fort Smith is one of several N.W.T. communities that were under heat warnings on Monday.

"The wind was blowing from the houses toward the river. It was basically the best wind we could have," he said. "We're just lucky that it was a wind in our favour, to be honest."

In a separate post earlier Monday afternoon, the Town of Fort Smith said a "small wildfire" was reported and people should avoid the area of McDougal Road close to Park Drive andPine Crescent.

The fire departmenthas secured a perimeter between the houses on Pine Crescent and Park Drive, the post said.

The cause of the fire is still not known.