DRYDEN, Ont. — Rain that fell in parts of northwestern Ontario on Monday, including the Thunder Bay region, brought only a modest amount of relief to provincial officials in charge of fighting forest fires.
The rain, although welcomed, won't be enough to rescind the declaration of a Restricted Fire Zone over a large swath of the northwest between Nipigon and the Manitoba boundary.
"What it would take to lift the RFZ would be widespread precipitation in amounts that profoundly change the outlook for the fire hazard in the long term," said MNRF information officer Chris Marchand.
Marchand said rainfall similar to the amount that fell around Thunder Bay could "cool the hazard" for 24 hours, but burning conditions can rebound quickly.
"The lack of precipitation this summer has resulted in the buildup of certain indices that we track, such as the drought code and the duff moisture code, which can indicate how receptive fuels can be to lightning and how deep fires will burn into the ground," he said.
Monday's storm system included lightning.
Marchand said the MNRF is "asking everyone to be patient" and to abide by the RFZ which limits burning to portable gas and propane appliances.
As of Monday morning, the fire hazard was listed as high in the Kenora district and portions of the Dryden and Fort Frances districts, and low to moderate elsewhere.
Smoke from fires as far away as British Columbia and from the United States continues to drift into northwestern Ontario, adding to a hazy sky created over some communities by clusters of fires in locations such as Woodland Caribou Provincial Park.
According to Marchand, under the right wind conditions smoke from fires in Wabakimi Provincial Park may also drift south to Thunder Bay.
