MUNICIPALITY OF SHUNIAH — Firefighters from Shuniah and Ontario's Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services agency were called to battle a wildfire Tuesday evening near Pearl.
According to Shuniah Fire & Emergency Services, the alert came in about 5:30 p.m. from an area east of Road No. 5 North and north of Highway 11/17.
At a construction site, firefighters found a large brush fire approaching the tree line and began an initial attack.
Shortly after, AFFES crews arrived.
"We did think that the flames were getting a little bit close to the highway, but we were able to stop it. The smoke cleared up as well," Shuniah Fire Chief Blair Arthur said at the scene, explaining that it was not necessary for OPP to close the highway.
He praised his crew for its quick response and for "getting into the middle of the action."
There's no official word yet on the cause of the fire, but it's suspected it may have been sparked by construction equipment.
