There was a single new wildfire reported in Northwestern Ontario as of the latest update from Ontario Forest Fires (OFF), as the total number dropped to 108 active wildland fires with 10 considered not under control, six being held, seven under control and 85 being observed.
The new fire, Fort Frances 64 (FOR064) near Little Turtle River, about four kilometres northeast of Riverview Lake, was logged at 0.3 hectares and was under control. Meanwhile, firefighters continued to battle several groups of fires that have been burning for weeks.
Low fire behaviour has been observed on all three major fires in the Rainy River District, the so-called Atikokan Cluster in and around Quetico Provincial Park, OFF said in its Monday evening fire update.
“Using infrared scan data, firefighting crews are making progress on hot spot targets near the perimeters and in internal areas of the fire near structures,” OFF said. “The data is collected in the early morning hours by various sensor-equipped aircraft including drones, helicopters, and fixed-wing aircraft.”
Of the Atikokan Cluster fires, none of which were considered under control, FOR013 measured 25,279 hectares, FOR014 51,768 hectares and FOR015 42,273 hectares.
“Three crews are demobilizing hoselines and recycling firefighting equipment at various locations across the Atikokan Cluster of Fires,” OFF said.
Eight helicopters are assigned to the cluster.
A total of 103 firefighters are working on various assignments across two divisions of Fort Frances 14, the largest of the three.
“On the north end of FOR014, where water sources are scarce, FireRanger crews are patrolling the perimeter and using helicopter buckets to extinguish hot spots, working up to approximately 100 feet inward from the perimeter,” OFF said.
“Crews are patrolling the north and northeast side of FOR015 for hot spots utilizing bucketing support from the helicopters in often challenging terrain.”
A wildland firefighting engine with a 4,000 litre tank capacity is now working in the Cushing Lake area.
The Rinker Lake Complex, which includes the monster Thunder Bay 36 (THU036) fire at more than 301,000 hectares, remain a focus of OFF activity. At its peak, THU036 hit a record 318,000 hectares.
Twenty-nine wildland firefighting crews from Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia and Manitoba, as well as two 20-person crews of wildland firefighters from Mexico, 15 helicopters, heavy equipment operators, pilots, overhead staff from Ontario and Québec, and an Incident Management team have been assigned to the fires.
The other two Rinker Lake fires, DRY034 (45,800 hectares) and DRY035 (31, 478 hectares) are also considered not under control.
Northern Ontario remains within a restricted fire zone until further notice. No open-air burning, including campfires, is permitted within the boundaries of an RFZ. Portable gas or propane stoves may be used for cooking and warmth but must be handled with extreme caution, and all burning permits are suspended.
