ALONGQUIN PARK WILDFIRE UNDER CONTROL TUESDAY

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

ALGONQUIN PARK — This summer’s fire season is markedly better than in 2018.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 6, there were no new wildland fires discovered, according to the latest bulletin update from Ontario’s Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services — for the Northeast Fire Region.

As of 5:20 p.m., they report there are five active wildland fires in the region.

Locally, Algonquin Park 3 is under control at 0.2 of a hectare and is located near Panther Lake.

And Pembroke 3 is under control at 0.7 of a hectare and is located approximately 40 kilometres northwest of Barry’s Bay, southeast of Algonquin Park.

Panther Lake is just west of the Portage Store (east of Huntsville) and near Smoke Lake, where two teenage girls were rescued last month after getting lost.

Sudbury 28 is under control at 0.1 of a hectare, northwest of Mohzabong Lake.

Timmins 9 is under control at 0.2 of a hectare and is located west of Watabeag Lake, approximately 25 kilometres west of highway 11.

Cochrane 10 measures 74 hectares and is being observed, approximately 100 kilometres southeast of Moose Factory.

The forest fire hazard ranges mostly from low to high with the areas of most concern situated south and west of Greater Sudbury.

For further up to date forest fire hazard conditions in your area, see the interactive fire map atOntario.ca/forestfires.

And continue reading MuskokatTODAY.com for the latest nearby danger ratings.

Help prevent forest fires

Adopt safe campfire practices! Choose the site of your campfire carefully and keep your fire small. Stay nearby: never leave it unattended. Put your fire out by drowning it with water. Be sure that it is extinguished prior to leaving the site. Stir the ashes with a stick to uncover hot coals and then drown it again. You can never be too safe.

Consider alternatives to burning brush or yard waste, such as chipping or composting when possible, or saving burn piles for the fall or after the fire season. Use of outdoor fires must follow the outdoor burning rules set out in the Forest Fire Prevention Act of Ontario. Fires are to be started no sooner than two hours before sunset and extinguished no later than two hours after sunrise. Fires should never be left unattended and tools and water should be close at hand to put the fire out. More details on outdoor burning regulations can be found online atOntario.ca/forestfire

For more Information

For updates on highway closures, check Ontario511 or @OPPCommunicationsNER on Twitter, and Ontario Provincial Police-Northeast Region on Facebook.

For information about the current forest fire situation: 1-888-220-7242

And for updates on the fire situation, visit ontario.ca/forestfire or follow us on Twitter @ONforestfires.

To report a forest fire located north of the French and Mattawa rivers, please dial 310-FIRE. To report a forest fire south of these rivers, dial 911.