Staff
Widespread heavy rainfall made its way across the entire Northwest Region on Saturday and into yesterday morning, which naturally dampened the forest fire situation.
Just two new fires were confirmed in the Northwest Region yesterday.
Sioux Lookout Fire #63 is being monitored in the far north while Kenora Fire #50 has been declared “out.”
By day’s end Saturday, two new fires were confirmed in Kenora District, with both having since been called “out.”
There were 11 new fires on Friday.
Lightning was the main cause of these new forest fires, although some human-cause blazes were included.
The fires occurred in the districts of Dryden, Red Lake, Sioux Lookout, and Thunder Bay. Some required aggressive air and ground attack.
Meanwhile, multiple fires were able to be called “out” this past weekend because of the heavy rainfall.
There remains 19 active fires in Northwestern Ontario, but no problems are anticipated with any of them at this time.
The forest fire hazard is now “low” for the entire region.
In related news, the Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services program yesterday sent 100 FireRangers, five Strike Team leaders, and four overhead staff from Ontario to Montana to help support its forest fire suppression efforts.
