Yellowknife, N.W.T. - If you're heading out on Highway 3 this weekend, your plans could be up in smoke.

The Department of Transportation is warning of the potential for closures of various sections of the highway because of a forest fire burning just outside of Behchoko.

The affected area includes kilometre 196 through kilometre 237.

The DOT's regional superintendent of the North Slave region, Michael Conway, said the situation all depends on how the wind is blowing.

"Right now the wind is actually blowing the smoke away from the road, but if we have a bit of a wind shift and conditions change out that way we'll certainly look at trying to keep the travelling public as safe as possible."

If there is a need to close the highway, Conway said they will do it in the section where the threat is the greatest.

"We generally close it five or six kilometres away from wherever the fire is and we want to make sure that everybody's safe if they're stopped on the side of the road or parked or being held up. We don't want anybody too close to the fire obviously, so that's normally how we do it."

He added closures of highways generally last between 30 minutes to two hours, depending on the situation.

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