DRYDEN, Ont. – Dozens of new forest fires have been discovered across Northwestern Ontario in recent days, thanks to hot conditions and lightning activity.
There were 36 new fires discovered in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s northwest region Saturday, joining 23 discovered the previous day.
The fire hazard was high in the southwest of the region, including most of the Kenora, Red Lake, Fort Frances, and Dryden sectors.
A moderate to low fire hazard prevailed in the Sioux Lookout, Thunder Bay, and Nipigon sectors.
There were 53 active fires burning in the region as of Saturday evening. Of those, 33 were not under control, 13 fires were under control, 4 were being observed, and three were being held.
Most of the new fires were under a hectare in size and being observed, while a few were somewhat larger and were not under control.
Fort Frances 16, located about 6 kilometres southwest of Seine River Village, was not under control at 8.3 hectares.
Red Lake 29, located south of Uchi Lake about 80 kilometres east of Red Lake, was not under control at four hectares.
Kenora 38, located about 100 kilometres northeast of Kenora near Ross Lake, was not under control at three hectares.
Several previously reported fires were burning at a much larger size as of Sunday morning.
Kenora 27, about 60 kilometres north of Kenora, was burning at 4,480 hectares but was considered under control.
Two large fires near Willard Lake, east of Kenora, were also under control: Kenora 25 was burning at 2,062 hectares and Kenora 30 at 1,162 hectares.
Red Lake 10, burning in the southern portion of Woodland Caribou Provincial Park, was being observed at 6,004 hectares.
Just north of Lac Seul, Sioux Lookout 3 was under control at 3,428 hectares, while Sioux Lookout 5 was under control at 226 hectares.
Residents can track forest fires and see the forest fire hazard in their areas at the MNRF’s website.
The MNRF warned residents that flying drones around forest fires is dangerous and illegal.
“When you fly a drone near a forest fire, you can put the lives of pilots, firefighters and other emergency personnel at risk,” the ministry said in a statement.
