Special air quality statements in effect in northwestern Ontario as wildfires spread

A number of communities in northwestern Ontario are under special air quality statements due to smoke from nearby wildfires.

As of Thursday evening, there were five active wildfires in the northwest region. Of those, one is under control while the remaining four are not under control.

The following communities are under special air quality statements as of Friday morning: 

• Kenora — Grassy Narrows — Whitedog.
• Sioux Narrows — Nestor Falls — Morson.
• Fort Frances — Emo — Rainy River.

Of particular concern is a fire known as Kenora 14, which is near Caribou Falls Dam and 12 kilometres north of Wabaseemoong Independent Nations.

While the fire was about 0.5 hectares large on Thursday evening, it has grown to 245 hectares as of Friday morning.

"The wildland fire hazard is high to extreme in the Red Lake sector with high hazard in Kenora, Fort Frances, Dryden and Sioux Lookout sectors. Thunder Bay and Nipigon sectors range from high to moderate hazard conditions," Ontario's Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES) said in an update issued Thursday evening.

"These high to extreme hazard conditions come as a result of this stretch of dry, warm and windy weather that we've experienced over the last few days," said Chris Marchand, fire information officer with AFFES in Dryden, in an interview with CBC News earlier this week.

"With the lack of meaningful rain in the forecast, this could mean that these conditions could persist until some moisture arrives."

Several municipalities in the region have declared total fire bans as a result of dry conditions, including Chapple, Emo and LaVallee in the Fort Frances area, and Neebing further east.

Marchand said the wildfire season got off to a slower start last year due to spaced out, meaningful rainfall.

"That's kind of what we'd like to see right now," he said. "We're in a situation where we haven't seen some rain in several days and [it] looks as though we're not going to see any for several days more."

Members of the public are urged to be extremely cautious with any outdoor burning activity, the AFFES said. People can view the province's interactive map for updates on wildfires near them.