THUNDER BAY –
There were five new forest fires confirmed by the afternoon of July 14.
- Nipigon Fire Number 8 is being held at 0.1 hectares and is located near Fog Lake, approximately 22 kilometres west of Nipigon
- Red Lake Fire Number 50 is not under control at 0.1 hectares and is located near Meddick Lake, approximately 16 kilometres south of Deer Lake First Nation.
- Red Lake Fire Number 51 is not under control at 0.1 hectares and is located near Glynn Lake, approximately 10 kilometres southeast of Deer Lake First Nation
- Red Lake Fire Number 52 is not under control at 0.4 hectares and is located near Matchett Lake, approximately 25 kilometres southwest of North Spirit Lake First Nation.
- Sioux Lookout Fire Number 32 is being observed at 10 hectares and is located near Hill Lake, approximately 28 kilometres northeast of Keewaywin.
There are currently 20 active fires in the region. Seven are not under control, one fire is being held, two fires are under control, and ten fires are being observed.
Fires of Note
Red Lake Fire Number 23 is 8 kilometers south of the community of Keewaywin. This fire is 95,623 hectares in size. Community sprinkler set-ups and maintenance are ongoing. Crews are continuing to work on spot fires today along Donson Creek and Dawson River. Aerial ignition was conducted on the south side of Red 23 yesterday north of Hawley Lake. This helped to bring the fire to natural boundaries and will limit the fires spread to the south.
Red Fire Number 39 –The fire size has been remapped to 44,736 hectares. This fire is being managed by an incident management team as part of a larger cluster of fires. Firefighters continue to establish hose lines on the east flank north to south of the fire. Crews are establishing hose lines around the north end of the fire. Crews are working to extinguish hotspots on the fire. Sprinkler systems remain in place.
Red Lake Fire Number 40 is not under control at 30,212 hectares and is located near Nungesser Lake, approximately 40 kilometres north of Red Lake. Recent precipitation has assisted in suppression efforts. 51 crews are assigned to the fire. Crews continue to make great progress working hose lines along all sides of the fire.
Fire hazard for the Northwest Region
The fire hazard in the Northwest Region is generally low to moderate with rain either occurring today or overnight in the forecast. Some stations in the far north and in the Nipigon District will remain in the high range for another day until the forecast precipitation occurs.
Travel restrictions in parts of Red Lake District due to forest fires
Pursuant to the Emergency Area Order signed July 9, 2019, an Implementation Order has been issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry prohibiting access and travel in portions of Red Lake District where there are public safety hazards as a result of active fire behaviour from a number of fires in the Red Lake area. The Order restricts travel, access and use in an identified area (see attached map below) and may be modified regularly to reflect changing fire conditions. This measure has been put in place to ensure public safety while allowing fire personnel to safely and effectively suppress the fires in the identified area. Unless authorized by a travel permit issued by the Red Lake District office of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF), no person shall enter into the hatched area identified on the attached Implementation Order (IO-2019-04-Red03).
All travel and use of the Coli road, Sidace road, Bandit road Rita Lake Road and North Road is prohibited. All travel and use within the perimeter of fire Red 39 and Red 40 is prohibited. All travel on the Nungesser road through Fire # 40 will be escorted traffic from 06:00 to 21:00 CST until this order is rescinded. Nungesser road will remain open after these restricted hours. If a member of the public believes that access within the restricted travel area is necessary for non-recreational purposes, please call contact the Red Lake District office to request a travel authorization permit. MNRF will review the request for access based on the rationale provided, local fire activity, and the potential fire risk.
Please visit ontario.ca/forestfire to view the current access restrictions and fire activity as this site is being updated regularly.
See the restricted travel and access areas on this PDF map http://www.affes.mnr.gov.on.ca/extranet/IO-RED03_EN.pdf (Note: this map gets updated regularly).
