‘Parry Sound 33’ evacuation threat to Muskoka residents

PARRY SOUND — Almost a dozen Muskoka residents with properties in north eastern Ontario are watching with caution as more than 60 wildfires rage across the region here.

Parry Sound 33 was more than 4,000 hectares large on the weekend.

Many, including at least 10 people in the Bracebridge area — three of them with island cottages — are on alert to evacuate their waterfront locations, a source told MuskokaTODAY on Sunday.

Seven people from Bracebridge and three who have cottages on Lake Muskoka have cabins on islands in the Key Harbour area, near where the largest of the fires known as “Parry Sound 33”is burning.

Three of the cabins are within one or two kilometres of where the fire started and the others are within 10 kilometres.

And three of the Muskoka people are at their islands and the others are monitoring from here.

Bruce Clark, of the Muskoka Store, has an island close to the fire. His brother Doug and his wife left their island, which is about two kilometres from the fire.

Meanwhile, Don and Helen Coates, Jim and Janice Boyes, Jim and Colleen Learmont and Alan Clark, who all have places nearby, which could be affected.

Their cabins (cottages) are on the Bad River Channel, which is an outlet of the French River. It’s north of the Key River, which so far is away from the fire zone.

The Coates are on holidays and just arrived in Dawson City on Saturday, so are monitoring it from afar with the help of friends and family.

Jim Boyes was at his place Saturday watching it more closely.

The Key River Area Association Facebook page has been busy with reports.

The Ministry of Natural Resources report 20 of the fires are out of control, with firefighting resources being brought in from other provinces, the U.S. and Mexico, inlcuding five water-bombing planes.

Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources said the orders and alerts apply to properties between the western and northern borders of French River Provincial Park, east to Highway 69, and as far south as the Key River’s south shore, including people on both shores of the French and Pickerel rivers and Hartley Bay.