THUNDER BAY – Wet weather in the Red Lake area helped firefighters a lot this weekend.
Northwest Region
- One new fire was confirmed in the Northwest Region by the late afternoon of Aug. 16.
- Red Lake 51 is located near Gerry Lake, approximately 50 kilometres southeast of Red Lake. The 0.1 hectare fire is not under control.
- An additional fire was confirmed in the evening hours of Aug. 15:
- Nipigon 60 is located north of the Ogoki Reservoir, approximately 81 kilometres northeast of Armstrong. The 0.2 hectare fire is not under control.
- At the time of this update there were 22 active fires in the Northwest Region. Four fires were not under control, one fire was being held, one fire was under control and 13 fires were being observed. Three fires were declared out today.
- The fire hazard is mainly low to moderate in the Kenora, Red Lake, Fort Frances, Dryden and Sioux Lookout sectors. Thunder Bay sector features low to high hazard conditions. Nipigon sector features high to extreme fire hazard conditions.
Fires of note:
Red Lake 49
- Red Lake 49 is under control and 100 percent contained at 552 hectares
- Red Lake 49 is an ongoing active fire suppression area. Travelers on the Madsen Highway 618, are asked to slow down and proceed with caution.
- The public should not enter the fire. Trees with weakened roots systems could fall over and injure you. There will be visible smoke in the interior of this fire for some time. Any public presence in the fire area will hinder suppression efforts.
- There is a minimal fire behaviour
- Crews have established hose line around the entire fire and are working 25’ inside the perimeter of the fire
- Crews have removed sprinklers from structures in the vicinity of the fire
- 24 crews are committed to suppression
- 6 sustained action crews have arrived at the fire
- 4 helicopters are supporting crews on the fire line
- The public is encouraged to check the ontario.ca/forestfire website for updates
Nipigon 45
- The fire has received limited rainfall over the past 24-36 hours. The west side of the fire has received 8-12mm, with 2-3 mm of rain on the remainder.
- Size 6678 hectares
- Fire is approximately 35 kilometres west of Fort Hope.
- Presently there are 16 FireRanger crews at work on the fire
- Crews are supported by 8 helicopters
- An Incident Management team has been assigned to the fire.
- The public is encouraged to check the ontario.ca/forestfire website for updates
Forest Fire Emergency Restrictions No Longer in Effect – Red Lake District
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry is advising the public that the forest fire Implementation Order that was put in place due to extreme fire activity in the Red Lake area from Red Lake Fire 49, is no longer in effect as of August 16, 2020 @ 0700 hrs Central Standard Time. All restrictions related to the evacuation, travel, use and access of the previously identified areas within the Municipality of Red Lake have been lifted. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry would like to thank the public for their cooperation during this time.
