An evacuation order has been issued for the campground at Reid Lake Territorial Park, roughly 50 kilometers east of Yellowknife, because of an advancing wildfire.
“People with camping units and gear in the park are encouraged to remove all belongings by 3:00pm Wednesday,” read an alert issued by NWT Parks Wednesday morning.
“At that time the campground will be closed until further notice. Please be advised that this closure time could change if the fire situation worsens.”
Officials say the fire in question, ZF-014, began near Harding Lake on June 27 and has grown to 20,000 hectares since that time. It’s the only fire being worked on in the territory right now.
As of Tuesday afternoon, it had moved to within six kilometers of the campground at Reid Lake Territorial Park. 30 firefighters and a combination of helicopters and tankers are working to control it as much as possible.
The fire danger in and around Yellowknife is listed as extreme. On Tuesday, a city-wide fire ban was issued, including the use of approved fire pits.
On Wednesday morning, that ban was extended to campgrounds at Fred Henne and the Yellowknife River.
The territory’s Department of Transportation meanwhile, issued notice that the Ingraham Trail is closed between Reid Lake Territorial Park and Tibbitt Lake until further notice.
We’ll provide more details as they become available.
Reid Lake EVACUATION
An evacuation order has been issued for Reid Lake Campground because of the threat of… http://t.co/CZy6KDtYKz— NWT Parks (@NWTParks) August 5, 2015
#NWTHwy4 is now closed from Reid Lake Campground to Tibbitt Lake due to fires. Will update when new info comes in. #NWTfire
— GNWT/GTNO Infrastructure (@GNWT_INF) August 5, 2015
