Northeast/Northwest Fire Situations (Restricted Zone Order in East)
Northeast Fire Region Restricted Fire Zone Order
Due to high to extreme fire hazard and increased forest fire activity, a Restricted Fire Zone Order will be in effect for the Northeast Fire Region, north of the French River from 0001 hours local daylight time on May 16, 2012 until such time as the order is revoked.
| Year | Fires | Hectares |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 to date | 119 | 115 |
| 10 year avg. (mean) | 152 | 3,990 |
| 2012 to date | 233 | 4,048 |
Forest fire activity continued to be steady on Tuesday May 15. There were 15 new fires confirmed. Despite these new arrivals, Ontario FireRangers made good progress on many burns and a number of fires were declared out or have now been contained.
Among notable fires, Timmins 5 located near the west end of Timmins has had its status upgraded to “being held.” Other fires now changed to being held include: Wawa 5, located three kilometres west of White River; and North Bay 8, a fire that caused the temporary closure of Highway 11 near Latchford on Monday May 14.
Fire Timmins 7 has not yet been held and is currently 300 hectares in size. Highway 560 in the area is still closed. Approximately 125 persons remain evacuated from Westree, Morin Village, Ruel and the Ostrum Mill site. Of these residents, 83 are currently being accommodated at Camp Gilla—a former logging camp located approximately 30 kilometres west of Morin Village.
There are presently 26 active fires and 3,657 hectares burning in the province. The largest fire remains Wawa 4 at approximately 3,000 hectares. A Type-1 Incident Management Team has been assigned to this fire.
Resources currently deployed include: 11 CL-415/215 waterbombers (including one each from Quebec and Newfoundland); three Twin Otter medium waterbombers; and 38 helicopters.
The fire hazard will remain elevated on Wednesday May 16. Cloud cover and possible rain may help ease conditions slightly in parts of the north-east. However, fire activity is beginning to climb in the north-west and another busy day across the province is likely.
To report a forest fire in northern Ontario, call 310-FIRE 3473.
Northeast Region
Six new fires arrived in the Northeast Region on Tuesday May 15. FireRangers moved quickly on these new starts and continued work on existing fires. Crews made good progress on many fires within the region.
New starts were confirmed in the districts of Parry Sound (1), Hearst (1), Kirkland Lake (2) and North Bay (2). Three of the fires have already been extinguished.
Significant resources were used on the on-going priority fires. Two CL-415 and two Twin Otters spent the afternoon dropping water on the Timmins 7 fire. The fire was active again and demonstrated intense behaviour. Crews had to be pulled off both the Timmins 7 and Chapleau 8 fires for a time due to extreme thunderstorms and tornado activity. Fire Kirkland Lake 5 was quieter and crews were able to make progress. Highway 66 in the area was re-opened.
Extreme fire behaviour and rapid spread potential is expected for Wednesday May 16. The degree of concern remains extreme across the region.
Northwest Region
Northwestern Ontario continues to have new fires occurring daily. By late in the afternoon of May 16 there have been 6 new fires confirmed, 3 in Kenora, 1 each for Red Lake, Dryden and Fort Frances. Additional reports of fires are coming in and are being investigated by detection.
The forest fire hazard remains high to extreme for the entire area of Northwestern Ontario. People are asked to exercised caution when dealing with fires or outdoors activities that may cause fires.
Confirmed Fires May 16th are as follows
- KEN 39 was a small fire at 0.1ha. This fire was caused by humans and is now out. KEN 40 was located by Valleyview Public School and was 0.1ha in size. This fire was caused by humans and is out. There was second fire onsite which is being handled by the municipal fire department. KEN 41 is located east of Maynard Lake and was caused by lightning, the fire is apprximately 0.1ha. This fire is receiving support from air attack and the waterbombers.
- RED 18 is located approximately 15 miles west of Ear Falls and is 0.1ha in size. There are no problems anticipated with this fire
- FORT 9 is located 10 miles north of Barwick. This fire is 2.0ha and burning in a mixture of bush and grasses.
- DRY 18 is located south of Minnitaki Lake area, closer to Bindo Lake and is currently 0.1ha. There are no problems anticipated with this fire.
The public is reminded that burning brush or grass for clean up around your homes, can be dangerous. Just one careless moment can lead to a wildfire and threaten people, houses and even your community.
Be careful with all fires, and if it’s windy – don’t burn!
Under The Forest Fires Prevention Act, charges can be laid against anyone lighting grass or brush fires during the day. Grass and brush fires must not be lit until the evening – no sooner than two hours before sunset and they have to be out no later than two hours after sunrise. If you don’t know what the rules are, check with your local fire officials before burning.
The public can report forest fires all across Ontario by calling 310-FIRE (3473). This is a toll free emergency phone number available to the public. This phone number does not work with out of province cell phones or satellite phones, in which case call your local fire department. When you call to report a forest fire use the exact location of where the fire is, the condition of the fire, what is the fuel type (i.e. grass, conifer brush, deciduous forest), and the approximate size of the fire. Don’t wait until it’s too late – Report a forest fire!
For further forest fire prevention information check www.ontario.ca/fireprevention
To report forest fires call 310-FIRE (3473)
