NORTH BAY – WILDFIRE UPDATE – On the evening of July 11, there are 67 active forest fires in the Northeast region. Of these, 32 are not yet under control, while 39 are either being held, under control or being observed.
There were 18 new starts in the northeast today, two of which are already out. At the time of this update 16 fires remain active. Thunderstorms once again swept through Northeastern Ontario on July 9th and we expect to continue to find several new starts as a result over the coming week.
There was no rain at all recorded overnight last night, and since June 29th which was the Friday before the Canada Day long weekend, we have recorded over 165,000 lightning strikes across the Ontario.
Reports of smoke have been noted from areas across the central portion of the northeast. Smoke drift from fires in the Temagami, River Valley and the Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park areas is the main cause associated with smoke conditions. We are expecting a southwesterly wind tomorrow which is expected to cause smoke drift towards the northeast. We’re predicting existing fires to be active tomorrow before cloud cover moves into the region overnight Friday.
Three CL415’s were working on North bay 72 this evening, which originated in Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park and has now spread northeast outside the park boundary. FireRangers are in Kenbeec/Kerns tonight setting up sprinklers in the community as a precaution. Good progress was made on North Bay 69 today, fire crews and heavy helicopters were effective in reducing fire activity for this fire which is the closest to the Temagami community. Crews from British Columbia were assigned to North Bay 55 today and have been working to suppress this fire. Air attack was dispatched to this fire later in the day to aid with firefighting activities.
Incident Management Teams
Incident Management Teams (IMTs) have mobilized in the region and are preparing to take over priority fires in 3 areas:
- River Valley Cluster
- Lake Temagami Cluster
- Lady Evelyn Cluster
Resources from Out of Province
- Fire crews from Alberta and British Columbia arrived in Ontario on Monday July 9 to assist with the fire situation. Fifteen 3 person crews from British Columbia and ten 4 person crews from Alberta have been deployed to priority fires last night.
- CL415 water bombers and T802 Fire Boss amphibians equipment from Alberta and Saskatchewan are currently supporting Ontario’s fire suppression operations.
Incoming Out of Province Resources Arriving July 12
- Nova Scotia has supplied five 4 person crews
- Prince Edward Island has supplied a 4 person crew
- Newfoundland has supplied a 4 person crew
- British-Columbia has supplied five more 3 person crews
- Northwest Territories has supplied six 4 person crews
- Alberta has sent five 4 person initial attack crews and a 19 person Incident Management Team as well as 8 support staff
- Saskatchewan has supplied two support staff
SMOKE CONCERNS
- AFFES is reminding the public that if they do see flames or smoke, please report it, and stay away from the area in the interest of public safety.
- If you have questions or concerns about smoke and your health, please contact TeleHealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000.
Travel Restrictions
On July 9, the MNRF district imposed travel restrictions along several roads in the Temagami area, information can be found on MNRF’s facebook page, Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services Twitter page and contact information for the North Bay District staff is indicated on our website at Ontario.ca/forestfire. There, you can also check our interactive fire map to find out the size, location, status of current forest fires, and remember that there is also a restricted fire zone in effect in many parts of Northeastern Ontario, so campfires and outdoor burning are not permitted at this time. You can check the boundaries of the restricted fire zone on our map as well.
For information about these travel restrictions: 705-475-5546
For inquiries by members of the public contact:705-564-6165
