All burning permits suspended - 25 new fires today
Monday, July 16, 2012 by: SooToday.com Staff
NEWS RELEASE
MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES
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Forest fire situation update - Northeast Region - July 16, 2012 (15:30)
Fire hazard
A Restricted Fire Zone is currently in effect for the Northeast Fire Region, north of the French River including French River Provincial Park.
The restricted fire zone includes the MNR districts of Sudbury, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, Kirkland Lake, Hearst, Chapleau, Wawa, Cochrane and Manitoulin Island.
No open burning; including campfires is permitted within the boundaries of a Restricted Fire Zone.
Portable heaters or propane stoves may be used for cooking and warmth but must be handled with extreme caution.
All burning permits are suspended.
The Restricted Fire Zone, put into place on Friday, July 13 in the Northeast Region, has decreased the number of human-caused fires.
This has aided in freeing up fire fighting resources such as equipment, personnel and aircraft to respond to the multiple starts over the past weekend and today due to the lightning storms experienced throughout Timmins, Sudbury, North Bay and Parry Sound Districts.
For more information, please call the RFZ hotline at 1-866-357-8422.
The Northeast Region has already actioned 25 new fires today, July 16.
Of these fires, all one hectare in size and under, two are within Algonquin Park, three in the Bancroft area, four in Sudbury district and 16 in North Bay.
These fires are all currently receiving suppression support and 9 have already been called out.
Fire resources in the Northeast Region proved to be busy this past weekend actioning 60 new confirmed fires between Friday, July 13 and Sunday, July 15.
Two new fires were confirmed in each of the Chapleau, Cochrane and Bancroft areas, 1 in each of the Hearst, Pembroke, Kirkland Lake and Wawa areas, along with seven in Parry Sound, 18 in North Bay, 14 in Sudbury and seven in Timmins.
There are currently 49 active fires in the Northeast Region, burning 48096.6 hectares.
To date, there have been 463 fires in the Northeast Region, having burnt 49705.1 hectares.
To report a forest fire in the Northeast Region, please call 310-FIRE.
In southern regions, forest fires can be reported by calling your local municipal fire department.
For up to date information on the current status of the Restricted Fire Zone, please call the Northeast Region Restricted Fire Information Hotline at 1-866-357-8422.
Restricted Fire Zone information
Fire Danger Map in Ontario
Be FireSmart! For more information, visit ontario.ca/fireprevention
