Heat warnings issued for N.W.T. as fire nears town of Hay River

Heat warnings are in place for a number of areas in the Northwest Territories, including one community where wildfires are blazing just 1.5 kilometres away from the town's centre.

Heat warnings are in place for a number of areas in the Northwest Territories, including one community where wildfires are blazing just 1.5 kilometres away from the town's centre.

Here's the latest:

Environment Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories issued five heat warnings Sunday morning for the Fort Liard, Fort Providence, Fort Simpson, Wrigley and Hay River regions.

Temperatures could reach as high as 28 to 33 C before falling to levels that are more "moderate" by Wednesday, the notices say.

These warnings come as the territorial government turns its attention to the community of Hay River, a town along the south shore of Great Slave Lake with a population of 3,500 people. In recent days, Hay River has increasingly come under threat from the ongoing wildfires.

As of Saturday afternoon, a fire nearly 4,000 square kilometres in size was burning one kilometre west of the town's airport and 1.5 km away from the centre of the community.

The fire has already destroyed a cabin and a travel trailer near the shores of Great Slave Lake.