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Number of wildfires jumps across northeastern Ontario

Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry's firefighting service reports 44 active fires
Village Media
20240822forestfires
Photo taken by Frank Aquino, CL-415 pilot, on Aug. 21, as air support was arriving on initial dispatch on wildland fire Wawa 13. At the time of Thursday's update, Wawa 13 was 19 hectares and not yet under control. 'There are three FireRanger crews committed to this fire, and it is receiving fire aerial suppression support as needed. There are no concerns to infrastructure or community safety at this time,' Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services for the Northeast Fire Region saidPhoto supplied by AFFES

The number of active wildfires in northeastern Ontario has grown significantly in the past two days, according to numbers provided by Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services for the Northeast Fire Region.

As of Thursday there were 44 active wildland fires in the Northeast Region, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry's firefighting service said.

Of those, eight were not under control, two were being held, 11 were under control and 23 were being observed.

There were eight new wildland fires confirmed by early evening on Thursday:

  • Timmins 15 (TIM015) is a 0.3 hectare wildland fire that is under control. This fire is located north of Hoodoo Lake, approximately 15 kilometres southeast of Foleyet.
  • Cochrane 36 (COC036) is a 0.2 hectare wildland fire that is under control. This fire is located
  • Timmins 16 (TIM016) is a 5 hectare wildland fire that is not yet under control. This fire is located south of Bigwater Lake, approximately 10 kilometres north of Timmins and 0.2 kilometres west of Highway 655. This fire received joint response with the municipality in addition to aerial fire suppression support. An increase in fire activity this afternoon is creating additional smoke, which may be seen from or impact visibility on the highway. For highway conditions, please refer to Ontario 511.
  • North Bay 13 (NOR013) was a 0.1 hectare wildland fire that is now out.
  • Sudbury 29 (SUD029) is a 0.1 hectare wildland fire that is being held. This fire is located approximately 5.5 kilometres from the intersection of Highways 69 and 637.
  • North Bay 14 (NOR014) is a 0.1 hectare wildland fire that is not yet under control. This fire is located on an island on Lake Temagami, approximately 28 kilometres west of Temagami.
  • Cochrane 37 (COC037) is a 1 hectare wildland fire that is not yet under control. This fire is located approximately 10.5 kilometres west of Highway 652, about 88 kilometres northeast of Cochrane.
  • Cochrane 38 (COC038) is a 1 hectare wildland fire that is not yet under control. This fire is located approximately 1.5 kilometres south of Nellie Lake, about 1 kilometre north of Jacobs Hill Road and 6.7 kilometres west of Iroquois Falls.

There were four new wildland fires confirmed in the region after the evening report on Wednesday:

  • Chapleau 11 (CHA011) is a 0.4 hectare wildland fire that is being held. This fire is located approximately 11.5 kilometres northwest of Foleyet.
  • Hearst 13 (HEA013) is a 0.1 hectare wildland fire that is under control. This fire is located west of Sweet Lake, approximately 45 kilometres northeast of Hearst and 35 kilometres north of Highway 11.
  • Sudbury 28 (SUD028) is a 0.1 hectare wildland fire that is under control. This fire is located along the channel of Matagamasi Lake, approximately 9 kilometres northeast of Wanapitei Lake.
  • Hearst 14 (HEA014) was a 0.1 hectare wildland fire that is now out.

These were in addition to six new wildland fires confirmed in the Northeast Region by early evening for AFFES's Wednesday report (description of fire size is as of late day Wednesday):

  • Chapleau 10 (CHA010) is a 0.1 hectare wildland fire that is not yet under control. This fire is located approximately 13 kilometres west of Foleyet and 1.6 kilometres north-northwest of Wakagami Lake.
  • North Bay 12 (NOR012) is a 0.2 hectare wildland fire that is not yet under control. This fire is located on the south side of Diamond Lake, approximately 36 kilometres northwest of Temagami.
  • Wawa 13 (WAW013) is a 0.4 hectare wildland fire that is not yet under control (Thursday update says fire is now 19 hectares). This fire is located approximately 13 kilometres east of Negwazu Lake and 18 kilometres north of Highway 519. This fire is receiving fire aerial support.
  • Timmins 13 (TIM013) is a 2 hectare wildland fire that is not yet under control. This fire is located approximately 11 kilometres northwest of Kamiskotia Lake and 33.5 kilometres northwest of Timmins. This fire is receiving fire aerial support.
  • Timmins 14 (TIM014) is a 0.2 hectare wildland fire that is not yet under control. This fire is located approximately 9.5 kilometres west of Kamiskotia Lake and 30 kilometres north-northwest of Timmins. This fire is receiving fire aerial support.
  • Parry Sound 7 (PAR007) is a 0.4 hectare wildland fire that is not yet under control. This fire is located on the shore of Georgian Bay on Chicken Liver Channel, approximately 6.5 kilometres northwest of Georgian Inlet.

The AFFES said a fire of note remained Kirkland Lake 5 (KLK005), located approximately 5 km north of Stull Lake, 5 km southeast of McKee Lake, and approximately 80 km west of Latchford. AFFES said the fire is 889 hectares in size and is not under control at the time of this update.

FireRanger crews and helicopters with bucketing capabilities continue to work on the fire. An updated fire perimeter can be seen on the province’s interactive map.

The fire hazard is high for most of the Northeast Fire Region. However, there is an extreme fire hazard in the Far North, including Peawanuck. There is a moderate fire hazard along the Highway 651 corridor, around Kapuskasing, and for areas east of the Highway 11 corridor between Temagami and Gravenhurst.

There is a low fire hazard for the southeastern point of the Northeast Region.

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