First planes carrying wildfire evacuees from northwestern Ontario head to Toronto area

Phillip Campbell has been closely watching the skies to see which way the wind blows — and whether it will keep nearby wildfires at bay.

The elder and head councillor of North Spirit Lake First Nation in northwestern Ontario is among roughly 240 evacuees travelling south to escape Red Lake 40, a fire that's more than 11,000 hectares large.

The first planes out of the remote Oji-Cree community landed in Thunder Bay Friday afternoon. From there, evacuees — consisting of some of the community's most vulnerable — will be flown to Toronto.

Fewer than 500 people live in North Spirit Lake, located in Treaty 5 territory.  

As a passenger aboard the first plane, Campbell said he's worried about those left waiting for the next available aircraft.

"If it's windy from there, the fire will go to North Spirit really fast and that's dangerous," Campbell said. "I don't know what's going to happen to them if it actually comes down to the wire."

South of North Spirit Lake, one of the region's largest remote First Nations — Pikangikum — is preparing for its evacuation starting Saturday. About 2,000 evacuees from the Ojibway community in Treaty 5 have been identified, and are being sent to Toronto and Mississauga because of Red Lake 62, an out-of-control blaze that's more than 26,000 hectares large.

Ben Curtis, inspector of operational support for the Ontario Provincial Police in the northwest region, spent Friday fielding calls from Pikangikum.

"They are compiling lists in collaboration with our provincial liaison team that's on the ground, and that's really to focus on the Level 1 and Level 2 evacuations," Curtis said. 

"[They're] focusing on a little bit more of the vulnerable population that are in Pikangikum — those that are a little less mobile, those that have some kind of increased needs such as medical concerns and things like that."

A much smaller community, MacDowell Lake, has also issued an evacuation alert and is urging members to leave. Fewer than 100 people live there.

There are nearly 50 wildfires burning across the region at various stages of control. The largest, Red Lake 12, has reached more than 195,000 hectares, setting a record for most hectares burned in Ontario.

"Ongoing drought conditions, low relative humidity, and a lack of precipitation through the northern fire management sectors have contributed to extreme fire behaviour and continued growth on active fires," fire information officer Alison Bezubiak told CBC News in an email Friday. 

"More precipitation is expected through the weekend, but we will have a better idea of how that rain will impact the wildland fire hazard and fire behaviour once it materializes."