Wildfires | Ontario

21 new wildfires sparked by lightning in Ontario: MNRF

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Leeanna McLean

Digital Reporter

Saturday, September 8, 2018, 5:08 PM - Lightning sparked 21 new wildfires in northern Ontario, according to The Canadian Press.

As of Saturday morning, there were 57 active fires in the northwest, with 11 burning in northeastern Ontario, the news agency reports.

Northeast

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) spokesperson Jonathan Scott told The Canadian Press that all fires in the northeast are under control or still being observed.

"There was one new fire confirmed today," an Ontario MNRF update issued Friday afternoon reads. "Hearst 17 has been declared out at 0.1 hectares. The forest fire hazard in the Northeast is low to moderate for most of the region except for portions of the north, which are in the high to extreme range."

With tremendous hard work and team effort, the status of #ParrySound33 has been changed to Under Control. Visit https://t.co/OgGpggX8b3 for the latest forest fire updates. pic.twitter.com/g06F8XSOhS — ONForestFires (@ONforestfires) August 25, 2018

Northwest

Meanwhile, 20 new forest fires were reported in northwestern Ontario Friday night, all of which were caused by lightning. Thunder Bay 70 and Sioux Lookout 164 fires were both at 0.1 hectares and were not under control.

Since the beginning of the fire season in Ontario, there have been 1,277 blazes, in comparison to 706 in 2017.

SOURCE: MNRF | The Canadian Press



