FORT MCMURRAY — A forest fire in northern Alberta has forced police to close the highway that links Fort McMurray and Edmonton.
Provincial wildfire information officer Geoffrey Driscoll says the blaze started at around noon on Sunday along Highway 63, about 25 kilometres south of Fort McMurray.
Driscoll says it’s about 300 hectares in size, but he says no homes or other structures are in danger.
He says conditions in the area are dry and that the temperature is above 25 degrees C. RCMP say they are detouring traffic onto a secondary highway to avoid the fire.
Despite the bad start to the season which saw a wildfire destroy a third of Slave Lake in May, Driscoll says the number of fires in the province has been below average.