DRYDEN, Ont. — The provincial government is temporarily imposing some restrictions on industrial activity to reduce the risk of new forest fires starting in Northwestern Ontario.
Measures are now in place for higher-risk forestry operations that have the potential to cause sparks that could ignite a fire.
The Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry (MNDMNRF) says examples of suspended activities include:
- blasting related to road work
- the use of mechanized power equipment and power saws for harvesting or processing wood
- all hot work such as welding, torching and grinding
Minister Greg Rickford said "We did not take this action lightly and we appreciate our industry partners coming together to support the community and the work of our wildland firefighters."
The restrictions are under the authority of the Emergency Order recently issued for Northwestern Ontario, and will remain in effect until further notice.
As of early Monday afternoon, there were 104 active fires in the Northwest.
At least thirty fires were not under control.
There was some positive news from the fire front Monday when the MNDMNRF reported rain had fallen the previous night at Deer Lake and Poplar Hill, two First Nations whose residents have had to find refuge in Thunder Bay due to fires burning nearby.
Ministry spokesperson Chris Marchand said about 25 millimetres of rain fell.
He said officials expect this will have a moderating affect on fire behaviour, but only over the short term considering how dry the forest is.
Lesser amounts of rain fell in the Red Lake area, where residents are still worried that fires might force an evacuation order.
Marchand said the rainfall there was accompanied by considerable lightning, leading to the risk of additional fire starts.
He said that although Red Lake 77 – which has burned 18,000 hectares to date – "hasn't advanced toward the community in a significant way in several days," fire crews have been dealing "aggressively" with clusters of new fires closer to the community.
Most of these, Marchand said, are now out.
Eight new fires were discovered by noon on Monday across the Northwest region, on top of eight new starts on Sunday.
The City of Thunder Bay continues to host several hundred evacuees from Deer Lake and Poplar Hill First Nations, where forest fires are burning nearby.
Mayor Bill Mauro has called a summit meeting of area mayors and others to discuss the forest fire situation in the region.
Mauro has invited officials from the MNDMNRF to a meeting Tuesday along with the mayors and fire chiefs of Oliver Paipoonge, Shuniah, Neebing, O'Connor, Conmee, and GIllies, and Chief Peter Collins of Fort William First Nation.
