RED LAKE, Ont. — The forest fire just outside Red Lake burned an additional 200 hectares on Tuesday. but continued to spare the vital Highway 105 corridor.
As of Wednesday morning, 750 hectares on the outskirts of the sprawling, 600-square-kilometre municipality had been torched by Red Lake fire 49.
Mayor Fred Mota is relieved the flames have not spread to the highway, as they were threatening to do earlier.
He said he was told the fire remains about a kilometre from the hydro corridor along the highway, however a Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry spokesperson said the fire is three kilometres away.
Mota said the blaze is only 2.5 kilometres from the community of Madsen, and he's worried about wind conditions.
"Today's a big day. The winds have changed, so they're blowing from the southeast, which means the fire has turned somewhat. The northern portion is burning back towards Red Lake," he said.
The mayor added that there is heavy smoke over the entire municipality now.
At least eight helicopters as well as CL-415 waterbombers, heavy equipment and ground crews are attacking the fire.
Chris Marchand of the MNRF said there is concern the change in wind direction will put more pressure on the fire's northern flank, but fire bosses also hope that lighter wind expected Wednesday will prove to be an ally.
"They saw some pretty good progress yesterday with the use of waterbombers and helicopters that are bucketing water, and lots of fire rangers on the ground who are making fire breaks in certain areas." Marchand said.
Mayor Mota remains worried that not everyone in Red Lake is taking the evacuation advisory seriously.
Many have gone by road to shelter in other communities in the region, and several dozen were flown to Thunder Bay, but "not everybody's following the instructions, unfortunately," Mota said.
The municipality issued another appeal Tuesday night for the entire population of 4,100 to leave, and specifically referenced the communities of Starratt-Olsen, Madsen, and Buffalo.
"We have a 115-passenger plane on standby here at our airport to evacuate as needed, and they can do back-and-forth trips to Thunder Bay all day," he said.
Only two out of up to 10 expected flights took place on Tuesday, the mayor explained, because people were still able to leave by car, and others elected to remain in their homes.
A City of Thunder Bay source said the city was told only about 10 more people from Red Lake were booked to be flown to the city on Wednesday.
Red Lake municipal staff continue to go door-to-door in the community in efforts to convince more residents to leave.
"There's a lot of nerves happening right now, a lot of tension and stress. We're just very thankful the MNRF is looking after our community right now," Mota said.
So far, the cause of the fire has not been determined.
Marchand said the ministry's investigation into that is ongoing.
Red Lake OPP issued a statement Wednesday afternoon stating that foul play is not suspected at this time.
