Toronto is among the communities receiving Ontario wildfire evacuees as northwestern Ontario faces 146 active fires and continuing evacuation orders. Roughly 2,415 people had reached host communities across the province as of Monday, The Weather Network reported.
Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek, also known as Gull Bay First Nation, is under a mandatory evacuation order. A community release issued early Tuesday said lightning had brought the number of wildfires surrounding the First Nation to six.
The Highway 527 closure at the First Nation has been extended to the Highway 811 junction, according to the province’s interactive highway map. Highway 811 is also closed because of wildfire activity, except for local traffic leaving the area.
Ontario Provincial Police said Monday evening that officers were helping with the evacuation, which had previously been voluntary. Police urged residents under mandatory orders to leave immediately and said other communities were being monitored.
The northwest’s active-fire count stood at 146 on Tuesday night, according to Ontario’s Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services. Of those fires, 53 were not under control, five were being held, seven were under control and the remainder were being observed.
Thunder Bay 36, the region’s largest wildfire, remained out of control at more than 318,000 hectares. Evacuation orders or alerts remained in effect near that fire, Thunder Bay 54 and 56, and Dryden 34 and 35.
The provincial fire service said crews, helicopters and heavy equipment were working to suppress Thunder Bay 36. Recent rain had reduced fire behaviour and helped crews make progress along the fire line.
Cooler temperatures and cloud cover also limited activity on existing fires, Ontario Forest Fires said Tuesday. However, the agency warned that lightning from overnight precipitation could still produce new fires in the coming days.
Twelve new fires had been confirmed in the northwest by Tuesday evening. Eleven were not under control, while a small island fire on Bartley Lake was being observed.
Fire danger was mostly low across the northwest, with moderate conditions around Kenora, Dryden and Fort Frances and a high-hazard pocket near Sioux Lookout.
In northeastern Ontario, no new fires were reported Tuesday. The region had 40 active fires that night, including four not under control and four under control; the rest were being observed.
More than a dozen communities and areas, including 11 First Nations, have evacuated in recent days. Alongside Toronto, host communities include Barrie, Niagara Falls, Thunder Bay, Kenora, Fort Frances, Lac Seul, Sioux Lookout and Red Lake.
Ontario Corps said 312 air purifiers, 84 air filters and five air scrubbers had been sent to smoke-affected communities. Feed Ontario and the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres are distributing food to evacuees, while GlobalMedic has delivered supplies to the reception centre at Thunder Bay’s Fort William Gardens Arena.
