Seven new fires started in the northeast region yesterday, according to the Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES).
As of this morning, there were 60 fires in the region, of which 22 weren't under control and 38 were being held, were under control or were being observed.
The largest fire burning in the region is North Bay 72, which started in Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park and has exited the northeast park boundary.
A fire, Timmins 12, is also burning about 25 kilometers east of Nighthawk Lake and as of this morning was 77.3 hectares.
“Four CL415 waterbombers and 4 fire crews were working last night to suppress this fire. Today, heavy equipment is making progress while a belly-tanker helicopter is assisting six crews on the ground,” reads an AFFES news release.
In Temagami, fire crews are making progress on North Bay 69 located southwest of the Temagami marina. Yesterday, heavy helicopters bucketed water onto the fire.
North Bay 55, located south of Temagami east of Highway 11, had aerial suppression from heavy helicopters yesterday as well. It is about 25 hectares.
Weather is helping the crews make progress on the fires.
“Relative humidity is higher in the region this morning, this is effectively reducing the fire activity and allowing our crews to make good progress. Some precipitation is falling in parts of the northeast early this afternoon, but we’re forecasting scattered and minimal precipitation today. Although this may help to bring short-term relief to the fire hazard in some localised areas, it is expected to rebound quickly once the precipitation has subsided,” reads a statement from the AFFES.
“There is a current risk of thunderstorms for today, which could bring more lightning fires. Since June 29th, which was the Friday before the Canada Day long weekend, we have recorded over 165,000 lightning strikes across the Ontario. We expect to continue to find several new starts as a result over the coming week.”
To fight the forest fires, crews from across the country are in the region to help the Ontario FireRangers and type two contract crews.
The out-of-area crews are from Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Evacuation alerts and travel restrictions
The mandatory evacuation orders from Temagami Shores has been downgraded to an evacuation alert. It is for the south edge of the Temagami to Jessi Lake, including Bell Island. While these residents are able to return home, they are asked to stay alert as they can be asked to leave again. Other evacuation alerts remain in place.
Because of the fires, there is an emergency area order for some areas in the North Bay district.
You can see the restricted areas here.
“All modes of travel/access into closed backcountry parks (Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater, Obabika River, Makobe-Grays River, Solace and Sturgeon River Provincial Parks) and all Crown lands as outlined in the identified area on the Implementation Order map is prohibited,” reads the release.
