Firefighter crews continue battle against wildfires in Northwest Region

Tim Brody - Editor

The Ministry of Natural Resources’ Aviation Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES) shared in their Northwest Region Forest Fire Situation Update issued on the evening of Aug. 9 that, “At the time of this update there are 112 active wildland fires in the Northwest Region. Of those fires, 12 are not under control, 7 are being held, 6 are under control 87 are being observed.”
In their Aug. 9 evening update, AFFES shared the following information on fires of note:
Rinker Lake Complex - Thunder Bay 36 (THU036), Dryden 34 (DRY034), and Dryden 35 (DRY035) 
•    A total of 26 wildland firefighting crews from Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba, two 20-person crews of wildland firefighters from Mexico, heavy equipment operators, pilots, overhead staff from Ontario and Québec, and an Incident Management team assigned to the Rinker Lake Complex. 
•    There are 15 helicopters currently assigned to this incident.
•    Firefighting crews are patrolling for and extinguishing hotspots, consolidating hoselines, installing and maintaining values protection equipment and constructing helipads to allow for mobilization of equipment and gain access to more fire area.
•    Heavy equipment operators are continuing to construct fire guards on portions of the THU036 and DRY035 perimeters. 
•    Bucketing helicopter operations are ongoing where required.
•    The Dryden 35 wildland fire was successfully scanned using infrared technology early this morning. Thermal imaging allows operations to focus their efforts on identified targets in active sections of the fire. 
•    THU036 is currently measuring 301,240 hectares and remains not under control.
•    DRY034 is currently measuring 45,800 hectares and remains not under control.
•    DRY035 was remapped at 31, 478 hectares and remains not under control.
Atikokan Cluster - Fort Frances 13 (FOR013), Fort Frances 14 (FOR014), Fort Frances 15 (FOR015)
•    A total of 8 helicopters are assigned to the Atikokan Cluster of fires. 
•    Low fire behaviour has been observed on all three fires. 
•    On the north end of FOR014 where water sources are scarce, FireRanger crews are patrolling the perimeter and using helicopter buckets to extinguish hot spots-working up to approximately 100 feet inward from the perimeter.
•    Crews are patrolling the north and northeast side of FOR015 for hot spots utilizing bucketing support from the helicopters in often challenging terrain.
•    A wildland fire fighting engine with a 4,000 litre tank capacity is now working in the Cushing Lake area.
•    A total of 107 firefighters are working on various assignments across 2 divisions of Fort Frances 14.
•    FOR013 is currently measuring 25,279 hectares and remains not under control. 
•    FOR014 is currently measuring 51,768 hectares and remains not under control. 
•    FOR015 is currently measuring 42,273 hectares and remains not under control. 
The Restricted Fire Zone imposed on July 15 remained in effect at the time of the update.
AFFES noted, “Due to the high to extreme fire hazard, increased wildland fire activity, the current fire load and to reduce the number of human-caused wildland fires, the Ministry of Natural Resources has implemented a Restricted Fire Zone (RFZ) effective July 15 at 12:01 a.m. local time for the Northwest Region and a small portion of the Northeast Region.
AFFES noted, “To report a wildland fire located north of the French and Mattawa rivers, please dial 310-FIRE (3473). To report a wildland fire located south of the French or Mattawa Rivers, please dial 9-1-1.

“For tips on preventing wildland fires and information on the current fire situation, follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X in English and French: @ONforestfires and @ONfeudeforet. For more information about the current wildland fire situation, visit Ontario.ca/FireUpdates.”