Fire north of Slave Lake deemed out of control

A wildfire 220 kilometres north of Slave Lake, Alta is burning out of control.

Geoffrey Driscoll, a wildfire information officer with the Alberta government, says the fire is about 3,700 hectares in size.

“There are no communities or Albertans in the area,” he said. “However, always in northern Alberta, there’s oil and gas facilities around so that’s the audience that needs to be careful.”

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Driscoll says there are 80 firefighters and seven helicopters on the scene.

Meanwhile, smoke from fires near Tumbler Ridge, B.C. and in the Northwest Territories has also been drifting into the province.

There have been 800 wildfires in Alberta in 2014 . Driscoll says that’s more than the province had at this time last year, but is still 100 fires behind the five-year average.