Active fires in northeast down to 12

The fire hazard in northeastern Ontario remains low to moderate, and no new fires had been confirmed as of Aug. 19, the Ministry of Natural Resources said.

Recent precipitation and weather conditions have helped to keep the fire hazard low to moderate throughout the region and helped with suppression efforts on active fires.

Timmins Fire 47, a 42.4-hectare fire active since July 29 in the Athlone Lake area, is now out. Sudbury Fire 184, a small fire west of Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park, is also now out. This brings the number of active fires in the region down to 12.

To date, 821 fires in the northeast region have burned 52,904 hectares.

While fire activity is low in this region, British Columbia’s hot dry weather is contributing to an active fire situation and Ontario has responded to that province’s request for assistance.

Thirty-six Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources personnel — including eight FireRanger crews and incident management staff for planning, logistics, aerial operations and liaison — departed this morning for B.C. Firefighting equipment is also being shipped including pumping units and 3,000 lengths of hose.