Staff
While fire activity has calmed down in Rainy River District, conditions are dry and the public still is being urged not to light any open air fires.
“Overall, things are still fairly dry,” noted Ministry of Natural Resources fire information officer Heather Pridham.
“We’re expecting some warm temperatures this weekend, and the little bit of precipitation we got over the [Easter] weekend and in the evenings isn’t quite enough to alleviate our concerns as yet,” she added.
“We’re not really expecting a lot of precipitation, if any at all,” Pridham continued.
“It’s going to stay warmer than normal, and our winds are going to be active,” she warned.
The fire hazard remains “moderate” in most of the West Fire Region, but is “moderate to high” in the southern parts of the Fort Frances and Thunder Bay districts.
There currently are two active fires in the West Fire Region.
The most recent was one was Thunder Bay District #10, a 0.1-ha blaze reported yesterday.
The other one is Thunder Bay District #9, a 0.1-ha human-caused fire that was reported Wednesday.
Fort Frances District #3, located in Gameland, finally was declared “out” yesterday.
That blaze had consumed 410 ha since it started March 28.
The West Fire Region so far has seen a total of 22 fires, consuming 440 ha.
Pridham said the MNR is continuing to urge the public to not light any fires, although there is no official fire ban at this time.
“We’re just asking people to exercise caution and to follow the safe burning guidelines,” she noted, adding burning during the day is prohibited (i.e., a person cannot light a fire more than two hours before sunset and it must be extinguished within two hours after sunrise).
But many district municipalities and First Nations communities have implemented fire bans, meaning no open air burning is permitted until further notice.
For more information on how to be FireSmart, visit ontario.ca/fireprevention
