THUNDER BAY – WILD FIRE UPDATE – Drier conditions continue to ramp up the risk of wild fire in the Thunder Bay District.
Aerial detection discovered a new fire May 24 in the Thunder Bay District about 50 kilometers west of Lake Nipigon. The lightning-caused fire is burning on a small island on Myles Lake. It is currently listed as not under control at 0.3 hectares. A grass fire in the Dryden District was also reported, located adjacent to the Dryden Airport Road highway 601. Crews were responding at the time of this report.
Five fires were confirmed by day’s end on May 23 – One each in the districts of Dryden, Fort Frances, Kenora, Sioux Lookout and Thunder Bay.
Kenora Fire Number 28 is now a 350 hectare fire and an Incident Management Team is on standby to manage the fire. There are 10 FireRanger crews committed to the fire and are making great progress establishing hose lines. The fire burned three power line poles on May 23 but hydro crews replaced the poles and repaired the line to restore power and the Shoal Lake Road, which had been temporarily closed, is passable for residents within the community of Shoal Lake. The fire behaviour is classed as smouldering.
Dryden District had a multi-agency response to a fire along Highway 502 including the fire departments of Oxdrift, the Town of Dryden, Machin and Wabigoon as well as AFFES FireRangers with traffic control assistance by the Ontario Provincial Police. Mop up continues on this fire and people are being asked to drive slowly along 502 in the location of the fire as personnel continue mop-up work on this four hectare fire.
Fort Frances District is monitoring fire number 12 on the north end of Quetico Park.
The forecast is calling for cloud along the Ontario/Minnesota border bringing showers and a chance of a thunderstorms into the region. This is expected to push northwards into the Red Lake area with regions to the south seeing periods of light rain or chance of showers and a risk of thunderstorms as the storm tracks east. Ahead of the storm system the relative humidity is forecast to be low with moderate to strong winds and daytime heating.
Wild Fire Provincial Update – Out of Province Resources
Ontario is supporting Alberta and the Yukon with firefighting resources.
On May 23, a total of 74 personnel including agency representatives and four-person Initial Attack FireRanger crews travelled to the Yukon.
There is a total of 126 personnel in Alberta including a number of 21-person crews for sustained action on fires and four-person initial attack crews, plus strike team leaders and agency representatives. Ontario firefighters and overhead staff in Alberta are being positioned in the wildfire management areas across the northern sectors of the province including Slave Lake, White Court, Peace River and High Level. Some are being assigned to active fires and some are deployed to respond to new fire starts. The McClain Incident Management Team has been assigned to a fire.
The Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services program is reminding people that they are responsible for safe outdoor fire management and must follow guidelines set out in the Forest Fires Prevention Act of Ontario including no day burning of brush or grass fires. Campfires are to be tended at all times and put out before leaving. If it’s windy – don’t burn.
For further tips on how to be FireSmart, visit ontario.ca/firesmart
For more information about the current fire situation and the active fires map, ontario.ca/forestfire
The Northwest Region Fire Information Hotline is available for general information updates – 1-888-258-8842
Report forest fires by calling 310-FIRE (3473).
