Rickford comments on forest fires, three new fires discovered over weekend

Three new fires were discovered over the weekend from Friday, August 27, 2021, until Sunday, August 29, 2021, according to the daily updates from the Aviation, Forest Fire, and Emergency Services. 

The newly discovered fires were:

• Nipigon 81 is located near Peninsular Lake, approximately 40 kilometres south of Eabametoong First Nation. The 0.1 hectare fire is not under control. 
• Dryden 130 is located near Claw Lake, approximately 75 kilometres northeast of Ignace. The 0.1 hectare fire is not under control. 
• Fort Frances 154 is located near Jackfish Lake, approximately 37 kilometres north/northwest of Fort Frances. The 0.1 hectare fire is not under control. 

"There's still too many of them out of control, but our firefighters, our front lines folks keep working on them, and our prospects keep improving on a daily basis, as I watch the numbers very closely," said Greg Rickford Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources, and Forestry.

"We're still not out of this, we anticipate a little bit more rain in the region for the next couple of days, I'm not a weatherman. Hopefully in the coming weeks we can see these fires down to a minimal size and number," added Rickford

Over the weekend many of the large fires received much needed rain that prevented the growth of fire behaviour. The Quetico Provincial park area (Fort Frances 35) received amounts varying from 5-15mm. Bunny Lake near the Red Lake 77 fire received 22.6 mm. Separation Lake near Kenora 51 recorded 9.6mm. 

At the time of their update yesterday a total of 79 active fires in the northwest region. Six fires were not under control, two fires were being held, 13 fires were under control and 58 fires were being observed. One fire was called out.

The wildland fire hazard is low throughout the northwest region.

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

Fires of Note 

Kenora 51- 200,667 hectares – not under control 

• Cooler temperatures and high relative humidity has reduced fire behaviour and the potential for new fire starts in the area. More wet weather is expected over the next few days. 
• Infrared scanning is being utilized to identify hotspots for crews to extinguish. 
• Crews continue to work hoselines in priority areas on both the east and west perimeters of the fire. 

Red Lake 77 – 36,038 ha – not under control 

• Significantly reduced fire behaviour on the fire today due to recent rain and cooler temperatures. There has been approximately 45mm of rain on the fire over the past six days. 
• FireRangers continue to work from existing hoselines and action hotpots identified by infrared scanning.  
• Enough rain has fallen to start to reduce the drought conditions from an Extreme to a High rating in the Red Lake area. However, even with the rain, there are still many large areas of very deep burning on fires Red Lake 16 and Red Lake 77. 

Due to the high to extreme forest fire hazard, the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry is maintaining a Restricted Fire Zone in Fort Frances District and southern portions of Kenora and Dryden Districts. The Restricted Fire Zone is in effect until further notice. Outdoor fires are banned. Portable gas stoves may still be used BUT must be handled with extreme care.      

You can learn more about Restricted Fire Zones here.      

For a more detailed boundary of the Restricted Fire Zone, consult the interactive fire map at Ontario.ca/forestfire or the map here.