Staff
As dry conditions continue in Northwestern Ontario, the Ministry of Natural Resources responded to 21 new blazes in the West Fire Region over the weekend, including a couple in Fort Frances District.
Fort Frances Fire #17 was reported north of town, near a cabin on Rainy Lake, on Saturday afternoon.
The 0.2-hectare blaze has since been declared “out.”
Fort Frances Fire #16 was reported just east of town on Friday.
MNR FireRangers received assistance from the Watten Fire Department to extinguish the 0.1-ha blaze.
Both of these fires remain under investigation.
The public is reminded the MNR declared a Restricted Fire Zone in most of the region on Friday, prohibiting outdoor fires.
“It looks like this dry weather is going to continue at least for the next three or four days,” local MNR fire management supervisor Harrold Boven said this morning.
“We are concerned as we go into Wednesday, with some warm, windy weather.
“Early indications are we could see some rain going into Friday and into the weekend,” he added.
Boven said they need some relief to get things “greened up.”
“We are into an extreme fire hazard here—our forest fuels are even going into extreme as we speak,” he stressed, noting it’s not just grass that’s volatile, but standing timber.
Boven also noted the MNR currently has a helicopter on alert at the Fort Frances Airport, and it’s possible the public may have seen it in the skies recently.
As the district “greens up,” Boven said the helicopter probably will be based out of Quetico Park or Vedette Lake.
