While firefighting crews were seeing some stability in the wildland fire situation in northeastern Ontario in recent days, officials note it could be temporary.
"Despite the scattered rain Ontario has received the last couple of days, it is often accompanied by lightning which can strike a tree, and ignite a fire under the forest floor," Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services for the Northeast Fire Region noted in its Wednesday update.
"Once the weather dries up, winds pick up and temperatures rebound, those holdover lightning fires can appear up to about a week later."
AFFES, the firefighting arm of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, said its fire management staff will be monitoring for holdover lightning fires over the coming days as the warm and dry weather returns and rainfall dissipates.
Meanwhile, there were no new wildland fires confirmed in the northeast region as of Wednesday evening, AFFES said.
There are currently 24 active fires in the northeast region.
For most of the region there is a low fire hazard. The fire hazard for areas between Marathon, Hearst, Smooth Rock Falls and going north fluctuates between moderate to high, AFFES said.
Despite the slight improvement, the restricted fire zone across the northeast declared by the MNRF on June 1 remains in place. No open air burning, including campfires, is permitted and all burning permits are suspended.
Said AFFES: "The current restricted fire zone was put in place due to the extreme fire situation and hazard northern and central Ontario have been facing. It is a temporary measure to eliminate preventable human-caused fires while the forest and landscape is highly susceptible to fire starts. At this time, the restricted fire zone is in place for the entire fire region of Ontario until further notice."
There have been no changes to travel restrictions ("implementation orders") as of today for the Sudbury, Hearst-Cochrane-Kapuskasing, and Chapleau-Wawa districts.
For a closer look at fire hazard conditions in our area, view this Interactive Map.
The following are details on the notable fires burning in northeastern Ontario provided by the AFFES:
- Chapleau 3 was confirmed on June 1. It is a 3,916 hectare wildland fire located 2 km south of October Lake and 2.5 km west of Vichaw Lake. It is not under control. This fire has seen minimal fire activity over the past couple days.
- Cochrane 6 was confirmed June 2. It is a 1,239 hectare wildland fire located 9 km west of Lake Abitibi and 1 km east of Marathon Lake. It is not under control. This fire is holding along cat guards, roads, and natural boundaries.
- Cochrane 7 was confirmed on June 2. It is a 10,719 hectare wildland fire is located northeast of Lake Abitibi and 7 km southwest of Joe Lake. It is not under control. Heavy equipment and helicopter bucket suppression efforts continue. The fire did receive some rain yesterday.
- Kirkland Lake 5 was confirmed on June 7. It is a 2,300 hectare wildland fire located north of Lady Evelyn Lake. It is not under control.
- Pembroke 1 was confirmed on June 4. It is a 43.7 hectare wildland fire located on the north peninsula on an island on the south side of Centennial Lake. It is under control.
- Sudbury 10 was confirmed on June 2. It has been remapped to 1,370 hectares and is located 3 km west of Fox Lake and 5 km east of Acheson Lake. It is not under control.
- Sudbury 17 was confirmed June 4. It is a 5,277 hectare wildland fire located 3 km west of Madawanson Lake and 0.5 km east of Pilot Lake. It is not under control. Four crews are on the ground and working the rear of the fire along with some heavy equipment.
- Sudbury 19 was confirmed on June 4. It has been remapped to 459 km. It is located south of Shakwa Lake and 1 km west of Lower Shakwa Lake. It is not under control.
- Timmins 7 was confirmed on June 4. It is a 149 hectare wildland fire located 0.3 km northeast of Ahsine Lake. It is not under control. Crews are working on the east flank of the fire.
- Wawa 3 was confirmed on May 27. It is a 6,678 hectare wildland fire located south of Trent Lake and Round Lake, and 5 km northwest of Duffy Lake. It is being held.