St. Paul 'civil emergency' called off

Highway 36 reopened to traffic at about 8:45 a.m. Monday as officials called off a civil emergency declared over 13hours earlier.

The region of St. Paul, northeast of Edmonton declareda civil emergency at about 7 p.m. Sunday to keep people away from Highway 36, said Rob Duffy, director of emergency management.

The highway was closed southof the community of St. Brides, 15 kilometres west of St. Paul, in whatRCMPwere calling a"fluid situation."

"It's being handled right now withthe localRCMPdetachment, and if they request help they'll come through myself and we'll get the province involved if we need it," Duffy told CBC News Monday morning.

"With what happened last night, RCMP felt it was in the best interest to keep the public away from this area."

But Duffy wouldn't give any details about the incident.

He said there are a few homes in the area.

A civil emergency is defined on the Alberta government'swebsiteas "an emergency that disrupts normal civilian activities."

Traffic was being rerouted. RCMP are asking the public to avoid the area until they finish dealing with the situation.