Parry Sound 33 forest fire grows to more than 10,000 hectares, forces more evacuations

Crews continue to battle the monstrous Parry Sound 33 forest fire engulfing more than 90 square kilometres in northeastern Ontario.

The fire, first detected on July 18, is now covering more than 10,000 hectares and is still considered to be “not under control.”

According to an update provided by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) on July 30, the fire is now only five kilometres west of Highway 69 and less than a kilometre south of Pickerel River.

The ministry says crews are working hard to protect buildings and infrastructure along the Pickerel and Key Rivers and the French River on Hartley Bay Road.

The fire has now forced the municipality of French River to issue an evacuation alert for the Alban area, west of the high-powered hydro lines on Highway 64.

The MNRF says winds expected Tuesday coming from the west and southwest could push even more smoke onto Highway 69 and into the surrounding communities.

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According to the ministry, water bucketing and water bombers continued on Monday, as aerial suppression efforts attempted to close in on the fire.

Although the focus is on the northeast of the fire, the ministry says crews continue to suppress and monitor all portions of the fire.

As of Monday evening, Parry Sound 33 was one of 41 active forest fires in the northeast section of the province. According to the ministry, 15 of those fires are classified as “not yet under control.” The other 26 are either “being held,” “under control,” or are “being observed.”

The MNRF says four new, albeit smaller, fires were found in the region on Monday.

Now, a total of 610 firefighters and support staff along with equipment from across Canada, the United States and Mexico are battling the fires covering a significant portion of northern Ontario.

The additional fires have now pushed the total forest fire count for 2018 to 888. This is a steep increase from the 243 fires recorded in Ontario in 2017 and is considerably higher than the 10-year average of 517.