The Parry Sound 33 forest fire in the Key River/French River areas is listed as being held at 11,362 hectares.
This is according to the forest fire situation update issued late last night by the province's Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services.
Forest fire fighters on the ground continue to action the remaining hot spots in a coordinated and prioritized manner.
Local residents will continue to see smoke drift from this fire over the next two or three days as weather conditions remain hot and dry.
Although the fire perimeter remains restricted, waterway and road restrictions were lifted effective as of Aug. 15. The fire perimeter will remain restricted for quite some time.
There is still a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) in place over the fire for aircraft.
The other fire of note in this region is North Bay 72, which is under control at 27,285 hectares.
Infrared scanning continues in order to identify hot spots. Six fire crews remain on site, and they continue to find and extinguish smokes and hot spots on the interior of the fire.
Two helicopters are assigned to this fire with bucketing capacities.
Across northeastern Ontario, there were 38 active forest fires as of Aug. 19. Of these, three fires are not yet under control. The remaining 35 fires are either being held, under control or being observed.
There were three new fires confirmed today, at the time of this update. One of these has already been declared out. The remaining two new active fires currently have aerial fire suppression underway late Sunday afternoon:
Timmins 16 measures one hectare and is located around 20 km northwest of the community of Timmins, approximately 4 km west of Kamiskotia Lake. Hearst 16 covers 4 hectares and is located approximately 30 km south of Hwy 11, to the southeast of Kapuskasing.
Interestingly, it's the large fires in British Columbia and the United States that are causing smoke drift in this region. Smoke drift may be evident until weather patterns change.
A restricted fire zone remains in effect in areas north of Rosseau, northwest to Espanola and Cartier, over to the Quebec border including Temagami and Mattawa north of the Mattawa River. This includes Parry Sound, Burk’s Falls, Powassan, North Bay and Greater Sudbury. For a visual representation of the affected areas please visit our interactive map.
If you live in an area outside the adjusted Restricted Fire Zone, be sure before you burn to check with your local municipality to ensure there’s no fire ban issued in your area. The public is reminded to take extra care when having a campfire and to follow the safety tips listed here.
In order to ensure MNRF and emergency officials are able to continue fire suppression operations in areas affected by large forest fires, travel restrictions remain in place near the Parry Sound 33, North Bay 72 and Pembroke 6 forest fires. These restrictions are in place to ensure public safety and the safety of emergency personnel working in the affected areas. Although some restrictions have been removed, others remain in place. For information on travel restrictions and travel permits, please call 1-888-220-7242. For a visual representation of the affected areas please visit here.
– Sudbury.com