Wildfires in Fort Frances and Sioux Lookout Ont., districts force evacuation alert, travel restrictions
CBC
Evacuation and travel alerts have been issued in the Fort Frances and Sioux Lookout districts in northwestern Ontario as wildfires continue to grow in both areas.
As of Thursday morning, ten forest fires are burning in the northwest region, half of them are not under control.
In the Sioux Lookout district, Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) issued an implementation order Thursday afternoon.
The order aims to protect the public, while also allowing crews to carry out suppression efforts.
It includes the area around the fire known as Sioux Lookout 3, which was first reported on Tuesday afternoon. The fire is burning north of Savant Lake, Ont., covering over 2000 hectares of land.
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has closed Highway 599 , and travel is restricted on Highway 516 east of Houghton Lake.
Further south, a wildfire called Fort Frances 4 by the MNR, is covering over 3,200 hectares of land. The MNR issued an evacuation alert Wednesday afternoon, which encourages people to prepare to evacuate on short notice.
Fort Frances 4 is burning just north of Crystal Lake, and is not under control.
The alert has been issued for all areas accessed by Camp 111 Road, Crooked Pine Road and all roads accessing Crystal Lake.
The MNR alert also covers the following areas:
People in these areas are urged to stay up to date on the fire situation, and to prepare an emergency bag with essential items like medicine, passports and legal documents.
As of Wednesday evening, eight crews were working on the Fort Frances district fire, and helicopter bucketing operations were ongoing through the day, according to the MNR's Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services.
The restrictions and evacuation order in place in the Fort Frances and Sioux Lookout districts follow similar measures in the Kenora district issued earlier this week.
The forest fire situation began to escalate in northwestern Ontario last week, as much of the region experiences dry and hot conditions.
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