DRYDEN, Ont. — The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has dispatched fire rangers from Northwestern Ontario to help Quebec deal with a serious forest fire situation.
Three ranger crews from Thunder Bay, and two crews from Armstrong, were deployed this week to Ontario's neighbouring province.
The 20 firefighters are joined by some overhead staff.
In addition, the MNRF has sent two CL-415 waterbombers to Quebec, with nine crewmembers.
Ministry spokesperson Chris Marchand said a typical tour of duty on this kind of assignment is 19 days, but he's not sure how long the Ontario personnel will be away.
The current forest fire danger across the northwest is high to extreme in the Fort Frances, Dryden, Sioux Lookout, Thunder Bay and north shore areas, and low to moderate in western sectors such as Kenora and Red Lake.
Late Wednesday, the MNRF said there were two active fires in the region, including one each in the Fort Frances and Red Lake districts.
Red Lake fire # 12 is being held at 21 hectares in size. It is located near the Donaldson River, about 40 km west of Pikangikum.
Fort Frances fire # 7 is located on an island on Samuels Lake, 40 km southwest of Atikokan. It is 0.1 hectares in size, and is currently being observed.
