Ten fires start over weekend

Two new fires were reported in the Northwest Region by yesterday evening, making for a total of 10 over the weekend.
Dryden District responded to a lightning-caused fire east of the Brightsand River. It was classed as 0.1 hectares in size, and required a long hose lay from water sources to the fire perimeter.
A second fire was detected 20 km north of Quetico Centre in Fort Frances District. Two crews were committed to the fire, and at last report it was responding well to air attack.
Eight new fires were reported in the Northwest Region on Saturday, flaring up in the early afternoon and continuing into the early evening. Five were in Fort Frances District, two in Kenora District, and one in Dryden District.
Sharing of firefighting resources continues across the region—proving helpful Saturday and yesterday as FireRanger crews were dispatched to various districts to assist with new fires flaring up.
This ongoing strategic positioning and dispatch of aircraft, personnel, and equipment resources creates a mobile firefighting force that’s ready to respond aggressively with initial attack on new fires.
In other news, 80 Ontario FireRangers and two agency representatives returned from an out-of-province dispatch with the British Columbia Forest Protection Service.
Crews were dropped off at main locations in Dryden, Thunder Bay, and Sudbury on Saturday and then travelled to their home bases in the Northwest Region and the East Fire Region.
Meanwhile, good progress is being reported on other active fires in the region. Red Lake Fire #43 was declared “out” and an aerial reconnaissance over northern fires Saturday showed little or no activity.
Nipigon District reported two fires of note in the Red Rock area have now been declared “under control.”
Nipigon Fire #85 is under control at 16 ha in size while Nipigon Fire #86 is under control at 25 ha. Infrared scanning was scheduled to be done over the fires this morning to pinpoint hotspots.
Equipment retrieval also begins on these fires.
The weather forecast is calling for rain across most parts of the Northwest Region.
This is expected to drop the fire hazard to “moderate” and “low” in most of the region except for the Fort Frances and Thunder Bay Districts, which still will have a “moderate-high” hazard.