NORTH BAY - No lightning was recorded across the Northeast region of Ontario, a good sign for firefighters hoping to get a handle on 53 active fires in the area as of Tuesday night. Of these 21 are not yet under control. 32 are being held, are under control, or are being observed.
While there was no lightning – the cause of many of the region's new starts – there was also no precipitation. Forecasts also call for clear skies across the Northeast for the next day.
On July 12, the MNRF reported that 165,000 lightning strikes had been recorded across Ontario since June 29. Since then, there have been an additional 74,000 strikes, bringing the total to 239,000.
Even with the good weather, the MNRF expects to find more lightning fires throughout the week. On Wednesday, they discovered 10 new starts, though three have already been extinguished.
Lightning is responsible for many of the biggest fires in the region. North Bay 72, the largest fire in the region at 11,296 hectares, was caused by lightning, according to the MNRF. North Bay 62, which covers 2,500 hectares, was also caused by lightning and has been burning out of control after a July 7 start.
Waterbombers remain active in the region, fighting two fires near Chapleau, one near Calabogie Lak and two in the Sudbury area.
One of those fires, Sudbury 76, was responded to by the Greater Sudbury Fire Department, as it was sparked by lightning just off Regional Road 80 north of the city.
Incident management teams in the three main fire clusters have made progress against fires in the River alley and Temagami areas. Fires were "quiet" in the River Valley, which now only has two fires.
Firefighting efforts in Temagami were helped by cool temperatures and rain, which kept fire activity to a "minimum."
However, in the area of Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park, North Bay 72 continues to burn out of control. Planned ignition to reduce forest fire fuel had to be cancelled because of weather conditions, and heavy helicopters continue to work on the blaze.
Link to original article in Northern News.ca: Firefighters get respite from lightning strikes