If the air in Thunder Bay and areas just beyond the city feel particularly smoke-free today, there’s a good reason for that: the nearest wildfire is more than 250 kilometres away.
The Ontario agency that monitors wildfires across the province said that as of Monday, there were no fires being monitored or fought within what it calls the “Thunder Bay fire management sector.”
The closest blaze is at Kawashkagama Lake, about 265 kilometres northeast of the city, according to the Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES) agency.
“The fire was confirmed (Monday) morning and is currently not under control at 0.1 hectares in size,” regional agency spokeswoman Alison Bezubiak said.
The blaze is one of about 25 wildfires burning across the Northwest. Most are merely being observed and not being actively fought.
Though a cause of the Kawashkagama Lake fire wasn’t immediately known on Monday, “we tend to see an increase in wildland fires caused by human activities as we move into fall,” Bezubiak noted.
“As such, (AFFES) would like to remind the public to use caution when performing any outdoor burning as we move into fall conditions,” she added.
The agency encourages homeowners to instead dispose of woody debris through composting, or by taking it to a local landfill rather than lighting brush piles.
Meanwhile, some rural fire chiefs were hoping that the relatively light wildfire season trend will continue into fall.
“It’s been fairly quiet for us here as well,” said Chief Sarah Shoemaker, who oversees Nolalu’s fire department. “In our area we only had one tree on (a power) line that had a bit of a spread, but that’s been all for us.”
According to the Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services, there have been 370 wildfires so far this season, compared to nearly 670 for the 10-year average for the same period.
In 2023, 4,200 square kilometres of lands and forests had been burned across the province by early September. By contrast, 830 square kilometres have been burned province-wide so far this season.
