Fire hazard rising

While area residents are welcoming the mild fall weather with open arms, the flip side to the sunshine and blue skies is that the fire hazard is on the rise.
The Ministry of Natural Resources reported the fire hazard is mostly “moderate” across the region today, with pockets of “high” in the Quetico Park area, along the north shore of Lake Superior, and in the south end of Sioux Lookout District.

But with clear weather forecast for the weekend, the hazard is expected to be mostly “high” across the region by Sunday.
Still, the fire scene has continued to be quiet lately, with just one new fire reported in the past two days.
Dryden Fire #53, located in the English River area about 40 km east of Ignace, was reported late Wednesday evening.
The blaze was “out” at 0.1 hectares in size.
There remains 22 active fires across the region, including five in Fort Frances District (all of which are in Quetico Provincial Park).
Recent assessments of the fires show smouldering behaviour on a number of them, but no problems are anticipated.
In other news, 33 Ontario personnel are assisting in firefighting efforts in Alberta, including one agency representative, 12 overhead staff, and 20 FireRangers.
Meanwhile, four FireRangers helping in Minnesota were scheduled to return home today.