The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry provided the following update on the forest fire situation late last night (Saturday):
By the evening of July 21 there were 64 active forest fires across the Northeast. Of these, 29 are not yet under control, 35 are either being held, under control or being observed.
Seven of the new fires confirmed today remain active at the time of this update.
Lady Evelyn Fire Cluster:
Yesterday brought extreme fire behaviour and burning conditions and North Bay 72 grew to 21,516 hectares.
Heavy helicopters continued to bucket water onto this fire, coordinating with crews on the ground.
Fire behaviour was active again today with high temperatures, low relative humidity and gusty winds.
Crews continue to establish hose line and work the fire’s edge.
There was moderate growth on the perimeter of the fire with interior green islands burning as well. Value protection systems continue to run on values on Mendelssohn Lake, Skull Lake and Cook Lake.
The team is continuing to observe North Bay 59.
Temagami Fire Cluster:
Due to the recent hot and dry weather there was some activity on fires on the north side of the Temagami cluster.
Crews continue to patrol and mop up North Bay 55, 56, 68 and 69.
Firefighters also continue to monitor North Bay 18, 19, 46, 47 and 61 and action priority areas with helicopter bucketing.
Value protection systems remain on North Bay 55 and 56, and have been removed from North Bay 68 and 69.
North Bay 69, which had previously caused the evacuation of 20 homes in the Temagami area, is now under control.
River Valley Fire Cluster:
There are 167 people working on the two fires in this cluster, including 42 firefighters from Mexico that arrived this afternoon in River Valley.
North Bay 62, a 2,500-hectare fire southwest of Hand Lake, is still not under control.
The northeast section and the west side of the fire were quite active. However, crews worked to strengthen the line and extinguishing hotspots. The fire did not experience significant growth.
Helicopters continued to bucket water on the east side of North Bay 42, a 350-hectare fire north of Red Cedar Lake. Crews made good progress on this fire, which had no significant growth.