7 new wildfires confirmed in the region
Friday, September 07, 2012 by: SooToday.com Staff
NEWS RELEASE
MINISTRY OF
NATURAL RESOURCES
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New fires
Since yesterday’s report, seven new fires were confirmed in the northeast region.
All fires were small at 0.1 hectares in size.
Wawa fire numbers 54 and 55 were located west of Kabinakagami Lake and are both out.
Wawa 56 is located east of Pukaskwa National Park and not under control at this time.
Sudbury 194, which was located west of the Sudbury airport, is out.
Sudbury 195 is under control in French River Provincial Park.
A fire on Bigsby Island in Georgian Bay – Parry Sound 68 – is out.
Chapleau 40 is under control south of The Shoals Provincial Park.
Existing fires
All remaining active fires in the region are either under control or being observed.
Regional fire activity facts:
- There are 16 active fires in the Northeast Region burning a total of 43,277.1 hectares.
- To date, 887 fires in the Northeast Region have burned 52,982.5 hectares.
Lightning and forest fires
Many of this week’s new fire starts are believed to be the result of recent lightning throughout the region.
Lightning is the only natural cause of forest fires and was responsible for about 45 percent of all forest fires over the 10-year period from 1990 to 1999.
The MNR manages a lightning location system which can track and record all lightning activity 24 hours a day throughout the fire season.
Weather is the most important factor in predicting the number of fires that may start or how fires will act on a given day.
Click here for more information about weather and fire.
Fire hazard
There are currently no Restricted Fire Zones in place.
A reminder that municipalities may have fire bans in place, so please ensure to check with them before doing any outdoor burning.
Ontario Parks may also have their own restrictions in place for each campground.
For information on fire restrictions in parks, please visit here
To report a forest fire north of the French River, please call 310-FIRE (3473).
In southern regions, forest fires can be reported by calling your local fire department.
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