The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry is reporting that one new wildland fire was confirmed in northeastern Ontario by early evening on Thursday.
There are currently two active wildland fires in Ontario's Northeast Fire Region.
Here's the breakdown on fires from the MNRF's Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services division:
- Kirkland Lake 3 (KLK003) was a 0.1 hectare fire that was confirmed early Thursday afternoon and has already been called out. This fire was located east of Englehart, about 1.6 km southeast of the Rural Route 569 and Sheppard Lake Rd. intersection.
- Cochrane 8 (COC008) is a 35 hectare fire that is being observed. This fire is located about 57.5 km northwest of Moosonee.
- Cochrane 9 (COC009), a 6,022 hectare fire located east of Parson Lake and 8 km west of the Quebec border, has seen several bouts of significant precipitation and is now seeing low fire activity. As such, the status of this fire has changed to being observed, meaning that this Far North fire is being monitored to allow the natural ecological benefits of wildland fire to take place as they would in the natural environment without human intervention. This is consistent with Ontario's Wildland Fire Management Strategy. (To learn more about our Wildland Fire Management Strategy, visit https://www.ontario.ca/page/wildland-fire-management-strategy)
The fire hazard varies from low to high across the Northeast Region, AFFES said.
Areas between Temiskaming Shores, Greater Sudbury and west to Sault Ste. Marie are seeing a high fire hazard with surrounding areas seeing a moderate fire hazard, AFFES said.
A low fire hazard is seen from Wawa to Timmins heading north, and for areas between North Bay, Arnprior and Dorset.