‘PARRY SOUND 16’ FOREST FIRE DISCOVERED MONDAY

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

PARRY SOUND — Nearing the end of summer residents here hoped they had escaped the forest fire disaster of 2018.

But Monday a relatively small wild fire was discovered and is deemed under control by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

In their daily report today, they say there were three fires discovered by late afternoon on Aug. 12.

Parry Sound 16 is under control at 0.3 of a hectare. It is located on the northeast shore of McCrae Lake.

This follows Sunday’s report that:

There was one new fire discovered by mid afternoon on Aug. 11.

Algonquin Park 8 is being held at 0.1 of a hectare and is located north of Shirley Lake.

Meanwhile, on Monday:

Bancroft 9 was discovered late this afternoon, south of Dodge Lake. It measures 0.2 of a hectare.

Timmins 12 was discovered late this afternoon, approximately 5 kilometers west of Kamiskotia Lake. It measures 0.1 of a hectare.

At the time of this update, there are two other active wildland fires in the region.

Sault Ste. Marie 10 is under control at 0.2 of a hectare. It is located south of Harmony Forest.

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

The forest fire hazard ranges from low to high with a few isolated areas showing an extreme hazard around Timmins and east of Montreal River.

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

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 at Ontario.ca/forestfire

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

For updates on the fire situation, visit ontario.ca/forestfire or follow them 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.