Fire ban for Fort Smith and Fred Henne, Yellowknife River and Queen Elizabeth parks

Ahead of the May long weekend, the Northwest Territories government is adding to its list of territorial parks under a fire ban.

The fire danger is forecast to increase across much of the southern N.W.T. into Sunday.

On Friday, the government announced a fire ban for the Fred Henne and Yellowknife River territorial parks due to weather conditions in Yellowknife.

The City of Yellowknife has also banned fires in Yellowknife proper.

The Town of Fort Smith also announced a fire ban on Friday. A fire ban is now in place for Queen Elizabeth Territorial Park, just outside of the community.

The government banned fires at MacKinnon Territorial Park in Norman Wells on Thursday.

That ban came on the heels of a fire ban within Norman Wells municipal boundaries that began on Monday.

The N.W.T. government says under its fire bans, camp stoves, enclosed barbeques and propane-fueled cooking devices are allowed, but they must be used in regulation fire pits and they can't emit a flame more than 0.5 metres in either diameter or height.

Parks Canada has also issued a fire ban for Wood Buffalo National Park. Itsays camp fires aren't allowed in any visitor area,designated fire pit or fire box until further notice.