Seven wildfires "not under control" in North Bay District

U.S. accuses Canada of failing to conduct adequate forest maintenance to reduce the risk of wildfires and warns that the U.S. will act on their own if more action isn't taken.

Article content There are seven wildfires within the North Bay region as of Friday morning, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources. This brings the total number of active wildfires to 61 in the Northeast Region. Of these fires: 18 are not under control, six are being held, seven are under control and 30 are being observed.

Recommended Videos The largest fire in North Bay is a 10-hectare fire and is not yet under control. It is located 2 kilometres south of Hand Lake. Hand Lake is located in a heavy wooded area between North Bay and the Town of Temagami.

There is another wildfire also not yet under control one-kilometre south of North Bay and is 0.1 hectare in size. It is located on the western shore of Plum Lake.. According to the MNR, there is a 0.7 hectare fire, also not under control, located north of Scarecrow Lake, which is also in an unorganized township closer to Sudbury.

North Bay 29 is a 0.8 hectare fire located three-kilometres north of Lake Nipissing near Laronde Creek. This fire is also not under control and North Bay 32 is a 0.1 hectare fire located 2 kilometres north of McFarlane Lake. North Bay 33 is a 0.1 hectare fire located on the northeast shore of Azen Lake.

This fire is not under control. The lake is located about 70-kilometres east of North bay. Smoky weather conditions are expected to hit the city after 2 p.m. today.

But there could be some relief coming with rain showers and thunderstorms expected Saturday. Canada came under fire on the political stage this week after Republican members of U.S. Congress criticized Canada’s federal and provincial governments over what they claim is inaction in preventing the wildfires currently spreading smoke and poor air quality across much of the northeastern U.S. and central Canada. Four Michigan members of the House of Representatives, addressed a stern letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney accusing Canada of failing to conduct adequate forest maintenance to reduce the risk of wildfires and warns that the U.S. “will look elsewhere, and act on our own” if more action isn’t taken.

“This is the third consecutive year we have had to write to Canadian officials about a crisis that Canada has the tools to prevent and has chosen not to,” stated the four Michigan Republicans — John James, Jack Bergman, John Moolenaar and Lisa McClain – in a letter dated Wednesday. They also state they are “done accepting apologies in place of action,” “Sovereignty comes with responsibility, and the responsibility to prevent a foreseeable disaster from crossing into another country’s airspace has not been met. Our constituents are breathing the consequences of this failure right now, and they deserve better than to be told, again, that it will be handled.”

Around 7:20 a.m. an evacuation order was issued by Thunder Bay – Ignace District due to the evolving situation and increased fire behaviour of multiple wildland fires including Fort Frances Fire 14. “People residing or utilizing the area near the fires are directed to evacuate the area immediately.”