Staff
Lightning activity over the past 24 hours sparked 15 new fires in the West Fire Region.
Four new fires were reported in Kenora District, along with one in Dryden District, eight in Red Lake District, and two in Sioux Lookout District.
Four of these have since been put “out.”
Ministry of Natural Resources information officer Gabby Rivard said the majority of these fires were sparked by lightning activity.
In fact, the MNR expects more reports of lightning-caused blazes in the near future.
Sometimes strikes do not immediately result in fires, but smoulder for a while after a storm only to spring up two-three days later.
There currently are 93 active fires in the region, including three here in Fort Frances District.
Altogether, these cover a total of 562,076.7 hectares.
There have been 594 blazes since the fire season officially began April 1, charring 572,680.6 ha to date.