Raging Fire Storm Roars across Ontario Forests
Pastor Dale Morgan
Raging Fire Storm Roars across Ontario Forests*
Sep. 16 2006 9:37 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
At least 1,300 people were evacuated from communities in northern
Ontario this week, as crews battle more than 500 raging forest fires in
the region.
The evacuees heading home are from First Nations communities in Deer
Lake, Keewaywin First Nations, North Spirit Lake and Sandy Lake.
Residents of Aroland, Gull Bay, Ginoogaming First Nations and Plays Plat
are still waiting to be allowed to go home.
More than 500 fires are still burning, with many spreading in areas
still awaiting rain. One, between Armstrong and Thunder Bay, quadrupled
in size Thursday to burn more than 12,000 hectares.
Fire crews can't keep up with the incredibly large number of fires,
sparked when a storm rolled through the area last week with thousands of
lightning strikes. Dry conditions all summer, with very little rain,
resulted in water levels so low that even swamps have dried out,
providing ample tinder.
More than 65,000 hectares of land have been consumed, and residents of
six First Nations communities were forced to leave their homes. The
fires are burning in clusters and growing, making it difficult for crews
to fight them.
The weather's not helping: strong winds on Thursday fanned the flames.
Officials say it's the worst they've seen in two decades.
"We've never anything like this before ... so late in the fire season,"
Mitch Miller, a fire information officer with the Ontario Ministry of
Natural Resources, told CTV Newsnet on Friday.
"This is unprecedented, not only in the number of fires but in the size
of the fires we are dealing with," he said.
Satellite images show the entire region covered in dense smoke,
stretching across the entire area north of Lake Superior, across Thunder
Bay and covering Lake Nipigon.
It is only the smoke from the biggest fires that show up, Miller said:
"the small fires won't show up in satellite images."
"We don't have the people to put these fires out," he said. "There are
hundreds of fires burning -- we don't have hundreds of crews."
Miller said right now the greatest risk is from the smoke, so the crews
have focused on evacuating communities where the smoke is thickest. They
are also trying to protect cottages and cut timber, to reduce losses for
the forestry industry.
"We've been very fortunate that we haven't had fire threat in any
communities," Miller said, "but that's a small comfort when you consider
1,300 people being moved out of their homes."
Miller said since there aren't enough crews to put out all the fires,
officials are looking to the weather forecast for rescue.
"We just can't take care of this all by ourselves," he said.