DRYDEN, Ont. — Firefighters in Northwestern Ontario were dealing with eighteen additional forest fires as of Tuesday morning.
The fires discovered on Monday brought the total number of active fires in the Northwest Region to 111.
The new outbreaks included several in the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry's Red Lake fire district.
The largest has burned 332 hectares and is located 110 kilometres northwest of Red Lake.
Ongoing fires of significant concern include:
- Red Lake 65 has burned 16,000 hectares, 7 kilometres northwest of Poplar Hill First Nation
- Red Lake 51 has burned 48,760 hectares, 24 kilometres west of Deer Lake
- Red Lake 77 has burned 23,400 hectares, 28 kilometres west northwest of Madsen
- Kenora 51 has been remapped at 114,000 hectares
A restricted fire zone remains in effect over all of Northwestern Ontario.
Certain forestry operations have been banned under an emergency order.
The forest fire hazard is high to extreme in the southern Nipigon and Thunder Bay districts as well as a few areas of the Red Lake district.
The rest of Northwestern Ontario has a low to moderate fire hazard following scattered amounts of rain.
According to the MNDMNRF, drifting smoke will continue to affect parts of the northwest, especially those in close proximity to fires.
Air quality advisories have also been issued for southern Ontario and parts of Quebec due to forest fire smoke.
