THUNDER BAY — Firefighting crews were kept busy over the weekend responding to two dozen new wildfire outbreaks across Northwestern Ontario.
The Ministry of Natural Resources reported 11 fires on Sunday, after discovering 13 on Saturday.
The largest new wildfire on the weekend was a 30-hectare blaze in the MNR's Red Lake sector, three kilometres northeast of Coathup Lake.
As of Sunday evening it was listed as not under control.
All the other outbreaks ranged from 0.1 hectares to 2.5 hectares in size.
There are currently 34 active forest fires in the Northwest Region, including 12 that are not under control, three being held, four under control, and 15 being kept under observation.
An MNR spokesperson said fire ranger crews have prioritized their initial suppression efforts to new fire starts, particularly in the Red Lake sector where eight of these were discovered Sunday.
He said lightning activity is suspected to have sparked some of the most recent outbreaks, and noted that it can sometimes take days for a fire to become evident after a lightning strike, because it takes awhile for surface soils to dry out.
More lightning-caused fires are expected to come to light in the days ahead.
On Monday morning, Ontario's forest fire information map showed the current forest fire danger rating is mostly low or moderate across the region, with pockets of high danger.
