There were 34 active wildland fires in northeastern Ontario as of late afternoon Sunday, reports the province.
Of these, two are not under control, five are being held, seven fires are under control and 20 are being observed.
According to the Forest Fire Info Map, there are currently three wildland fires in the Elliot Lake area, all of which started more than a month ago, and all of which are currently listed as under control.
Sudbury 10, which started on June 2, is 1,370 hectares in size and is listed as being under control. Sudbury 19, which started June 2, is 459 hectares in size and is also listed as being under control.
The largest fire in the Sudbury region, Sudbury 17, started June 4 and is 5,857 hectares in size, and is under control.
The forest fire risk in the Greater Sudbury area is currently listed as high. This is a change from a few days ago when it was listed as being low.
There were two new fires confirmed in northeastern Ontario on Sunday:
- Hearst 6 measures two hectares. It is located north of McLeister Lake and approximately 65 kilometres northeast of the community of Hearst. Two CL415 waterbombers and a lead birddog aircraft have been on the scene this afternoon.
- Hearst 7 is also located north of McLeister Lake. It measures 0.1 of a hectare.
Fires of note include:
- Cochrane 7 was confirmed on June 2. It is a 37,742-hectare wildland fire is located northeast of Lake Abitibi. Ontario FireRanger Crews and a 20-person crew of forest firefighters from Mexico are dedicated to this fire with overhead support from helicopters. The fire’s status has now been changed to ‘being held’.
- Cochrane 11 was confirmed on June 17. It’s estimated at 805 hectares and is located approximately five kilometres west of the community of Fort Albany and south of Big Island. FireRanger crews and a 20-person crew of forest firefighters from Mexico are making good progress on fire suppression. The fire is being held.
- Chapleau 3 was confirmed on June 1. It is a 3,916-hectare wildland fire located two kilometres south of October Lake and 2.5 kilometres west of Vichaw Lake. It is being held.
- Chapleau 6 was confirmed on June 4. It is a 1,228-hectare wildland fire located 2.5 kilometres west of Morin Lake and one kilometre east of Bolkow Lake. It is being held.
A restricted fire zone remains in effect for the entire fire region of Ontario. Outdoor fires are banned.
In addition, residents are asked to use extreme care with any activities that could have the potential of sparking a fire, including parking or driving vehicles on dry grass or other forest floor susceptible to ignition from hot machinery (this can include cars, trucks, SUVs, ATVs, or other mechanical equipment).