Five new wildland fires in northeast; illegal drone flight hampers firefighters

CTV News Northern Ontario weather specialist Tony Ryma has a look at the weather week ahead across northeastern Ontario.

Ontario Forest Fires said there were five new wildland fires confirmed in the northeast region in its latest update issued Sunday evening.

The organization also said that efforts to contain one of the fires -- Cochrane 32 -- were hampered by a drone flying illegally in the area.

“A drone flying over Cochrane 32 tonight has grounded all firefighting aircraft in the area and delayed suppression operations,” Ontario Forest Fires said in its update.

Regulations prohibit “aircraft, including drones, from the airspace over an active forest fire within 5 nautical miles and up to an altitude of 3,000 feet.”

Transport Canada drone regulations can be found here.

“We are reminding everyone that flying a drone, including micro drones, over a forest fire can cause a collision with firefighting aircraft, posing significant safety risks to our pilots, firefighters and emergency personnel,” the update said.

“Help us keep emergency personnel safe. Wildland fires are drone-free zones.”

The five new fires include Cochrane 32, which measures 2.8 hectares and is located two kilometres northwest of Harty.

Two CL-415 waterbombers and a lead bird dog aircraft were on the scene Sunday afternoon. Two FireRanger crews are responding and a helicopter with a belly tank helped crews on the ground early Sunday evening.

North Bay 16 measures 0.4 of a hectare and is located west of Yorkston Lake and south of Lady Evelyn Smoothwater Provincial Park. It is not under control.

Wawa 6 was confirmed late Sunday afternoon at 0.1 of a hectare. It is located 11 kilometres south of Hawk Junction, west of Highway 101 and Whitefish Lake. It is not under control.

Wawa 7 was confirmed late Sunday afternoon at 0.1 of a hectare. It is located east of Jeff Lake, 13 kilometres north of the Montreal River and approximately 30 kilometres east of Lake Superior Provincial Park.

Wawa 8 was confirmed early Sunday evening at 1.1 hectares and is located four kilometres east of Highway 614, on a peninsula on the southern shore of Musher Lake, and 33 kilometres south of Manitouwadge. One crew is assigned to this fire.

There are currently 35 active wildland fires in the northeast region. Of these, six are not under control, two are being held, four are under control and 23 are being observed.

To access the current forest fire danger rating in your area and an accessible version of this map, click here to access the interactive fire map.