August 18: Six new fires confirmed, Kenora 51 larger than 10 year average of hectares burned

Six new fires were discovered by the early evening of August 18, 2021, according to an update by the Aviation, Forest Fire, and Emergency Services.

The newly discovered fires were:

• Dryden 123 is not under control at 0.1 hectares and is located near Abamategwia Lake, approximately 32 kilometres northwest of Ignace.
• Dryden 124 is not under control at 0.1 hectares and is located near Ekal Lake, approximately 11 kilometres southeast of Ignace.
• Kenora 146 is not under control at 0.5 hectares and is located near Fisher Lake, approximately 66 kilometres southeast of Kenora.
• Fort Frances 142 is not under control at 7 hectares and is located near Antoine Lake, approximately 26 kilometres south of Atikokan.
• Sioux Lookout 134 is being observed at 0.5 hectares and is located on an island on Lac Seul, approximately 17 kilometres southeast of Ear Falls.
• Kenora 147 is not under control at 0.3 hectares and is located near Maynard Lake, approximately 83 kilometres northeast of Kenora.

At the time of this update there were 101 active fires in the northwest region. 14 fires were not under control, 7 fires were being held, 15 fires were under control and 65 fires were being monitored.

To see the wildland fire hazard near you, visit our interactive map at Ontario.ca/forestfire.  

Fires of Note 

Kenora 51

• Kenora 51 is 200,667 hectares in size and remains not under control.
• Kenora 51 remains 20 km north of Wabaseemoong on the northern side of Umfreville Lake.
• At 200,667 hectares in size, Kenora 51 alone is larger than the 10 year average for the total hectares burned in the entire province to this date in the season (162,069 hectares). Kenora 51 also accounts for 28 per cent of all the fire on the landscape in Ontario during this severe fire season (716,458 hectares).
• Additional crews continue to be cycled in and placed on the fire line to continue with suppression efforts replacing those who require rest days.
• Fire behaviour varies across the Kenora 51 area. The west side of the fire has seen low behaviour in recent days. Fire behaviour is increasing on the east and northeast sections, a trend that is expected to continue as sunny conditions, higher temperatures and lower relative humidities persist.
• On the fire’s west side, crews supported by bucketing helicopters are establishing hoselines and limiting the spread of the fire in the direction of the Davidson Lake area.
• On the fire’s southeastern flank, crews supported by bucketing helicopters are establishing hoselines in the Fletcher Lake, Rowdy Lake and Right Lake areas.
• Heavy equipment continues to develop fireguard to the east and south of the fire

·         An Incident Management Team is established on the fire.

Red Lake 65    

• The fire is 20,254 hectares and located 6 kilometres west of Poplar Hill First Nation.   
• Crews continue laying and working hose lines on strategic areas of the fires. Heli-buckets continue to assist where needed. 
• Fire behaviour is smouldering with some visible smoke

Red Lake 51    

• The fire is 53,522 hectares and located approximately 24 kilometres west of Deer Lake First Nation.   
• Crews continue to mop up smokes on the north west corner and are making good progress on the eastern flank to the south east.
• Fire behaviour is smouldering with some visible smoke.
• An Incident Management Team has been assigned to oversee this fire.   

Red Lake 77    

• The fire is not under control and is 32,799 ha, approximately 33 km west of Red Lake.  
• This fire has experienced some increased fire activity over the past couple of days primarily on the western flank; wet weather moving into the area in the next few days should help in the containment of this fire.
• The western flank of RED77 is showing more active fire behaviour with open flame and torching; this area will be remapped and re-evaluated in the next day.
• Infrared scanning continues overnight to assist crews in locating new smokes.
• Fireguard continues to be built east of the fire with heavy equipment and is nearing completion.