N.W.T. Fire and the RCMP say three people were on board a plane that crashed about 50 kilometres from Fort Simpson on Wednesday evening while responding to a fire near the community.

The RCMP said it went to the site Wednesday to launch an investigation and “confirm the status of the aircraft’s occupants.”

“No further information on the occupants is available at this time,” the release said.

In a news release Thursday morning, the RCMP said they learned of the plane crash around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

The plane involved was a fixed wing Turbo Commander 960 Bird Dog 104, the RCMP said. Bird dog aircraft are small, typically single-engine planes that carry crew who direct air traffic near a fire and coordinate the airtankers.

N.W.T. Fire said the aircraft has been working on a fire identified as FS009 — a naturally-caused fire 100 hectares in size discovered Wednesday evening in the Martin Hills area near Fort Simpson.

N.W.T. Fire and the RCMP did not provide any details about the incident.

“To support the well-being of our personnel, Critical Incident Stress Management Specialists are being mobilized to bases to help staff process these events,” a statement from N.W.T. Fire said.

Fort Simpson Mayor Les Wright declined to comment early Thursday.

RCMP said the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) is leading the investigation.

Jon Lee, a spokesperson with the TSB, said the agency was notified of the incident Wednesday night and was deploying two investigators to the area.

He said the TSB had few details about the incident.

More information will be shared when it’s available, the RCMP said.