Sault Ste. Marie forest fire hot spot

ONTARIO MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES

************************* East Fire Region situation update

Tuesday August 14th, 2007 – 1330hrs

Highlights

- 31 new; 51 active fires

- 494 fires; 7719.8 hectares to date since Apr.1st

Details

There have been 31 new fires in the last 24 hours. The majority of the new starts have been lightning caused with the exception of a few human caused fires.

The busiest districts were Sault Ste. Marie with 9 new fires and Sudbury with 6 new fires.

North Bay had 5 new fires, Parry Sound had 4, Kirkland Lake and Chapleau had 2 and Bancroft, Timmins and Wawa each had 1 new fire.

Out of the new fires, 5 have since been called out. With the exception of 4 fires the remainder were all less than 1.0 hectare in size.

Clouds will blanket the areas north of a line of from Earlton to Windsor by the early afternoon and continue to move further south-eastward through the afternoon to evening hours.

There will be periods of rain across the Hudson Bay Zone and showers elsewhere.

Thunderstorms are expected from Fort Albany southward.

The winds will be light to moderate with the temperatures remaining slightly below normal.

The Ministry of Natural Resources reminds the public that before burning please check with your municipality to be advised of their burning regulations.

Never leave your fire unattended and make sure it is completely extinguished before leaving.

To REPORT a Forest Fire in the East Fire Region please call 1-888-863-FIRE (3473).

*************************