Wildfires raging across western Canada have contributed to smoky days with no end in sight in the Rainy River District.
Residents have dealt with smoky, hazy days for most of a week as the fallout from significant wildfires in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta is felt in the district. According to FireSmoke Canada, an online resource that provides forecasts for smoke spread from wildfires, the northwest of Ontario is seeing smoke not only from large fires burning in Ontario at the Manitoba border, but also from Canada’s three prairie provinces.
Observing a forecast map provided by the organization at firesmoke.ca, Smoke from more than a dozen fires is being pushed towards the Rainy River District over the next few days, with little relief in sight. Most significantly, the fires burning in Saskatchewan and western Manitoba are expelling dense clouds of wildfire smoke that will drift our way.
Both prairie provinces have announced states of emergency to allow for resources to be better targeted towards dealing with the fires, and Manitoba premier Wab Kinew said he has asked Prime Minister Mark Carney for support from the Canadian Armed Forces in helping to transport residents from communities that have come under evacuation orders.
While cooler temperatures and some precipitation has lowered the fire risk level across some parts of the region, much of northwestern Ontario remains at high or extreme risk of forest fires. A restricted fire zone also remains in place across the northwest.
Two new forest fires were reported in the region yesterday, with FOR009 being observed at 20 hectares (49 acres) in Quetico Provincial Park, and KEN034 burning at 15 hectares (37 acres) northeast of Kenora. Northwestern Ontario’s largest forest fire, KEN020, is still listed as “not under control” and is currently burning at 36,039 hectares (89,054 acres).
