18 New Wildfires Confirmed

THUNDER BAY – Hot weather has the fire hazard climbing, as there were eighteen new wildfires confirmed by Sunday afternoon – July 30 2017.

Northwest Region

There were 18 new fires confirmed by the afternoon of July 30 in the Northwest Region with more reports being investigated at the time of this update. These fires are located in the Red Lake, Thunder Bay, Nipigon, Sioux Lookout and Dryden districts. Most of these fires remained small and fire crews are making good progress on active fires. A few fires will be monitored as they are located in remote areas and pose no hazard to the public.

There were 16 new fires confirmed by day’s end on July 29. The fires occurred in the Districts of Nipigon, Red Lake, Sioux Lookout and Thunder Bay and were lightning-caused.

The forest fire hazard is moderate to high across the region.  Unsettled weather is expected over the next couple days, but rainfall will be scattered and light. This will assist with suppression efforts, but will only reduce the fire hazard temporarily.

Out of Province Deployment

• There are 391 staff supporting the province of British Columbia in their fire management efforts
• Over 140 personnel from the first wave of resources returned to Ontario July 27, after completing their deployment in BC.
• The number of people in British Columbia will continue to change as resources deployed earlier are now returning back into Ontario. As safety is Ontario’s top priority, deployments are typically 19 days in length, including travel time.  We do require staff to two get days minimum rest before returning to duty.
• Ontario continues to work with the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre and British Columbia to assess their ongoing need for assistance and expect more resources will be provided in the coming days.
• Ontario has also provided British Columbia with firefighting equipment including 10 000 lengths of fire hose, 2 structural protection units and over 200 pump kits.

To see a complete list of fires across the province click on our interactive map. You can also get the latest update on the condition of any fire by clicking the fire icon.

Fire numbers and online information:

• Forest Fire Reporting Number –  310-FIRE (3473)
• Follow us on Twitter: in English @ONForestFires or in French @ONFeuDeForêt
• For guidelines on safe outdoor fire management ontario.ca/fireprevention