THUNDER BAY — Despite the wet weekend that much of Northwestern Ontario experienced, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry isn't contemplating changes to the Restricted Fire Zone that has been in place since the beginning of June.
According to the MNRF, rainfall totals in southern portions of the region over the past few days varied widely, with some locations getting as much as 25 millimetres, but others receiving as little as five.
In the Northwest region, the wildfire hazard on Monday morning generally stood at low to moderate in the south, and moderate to high in areas farther north.
"We don't expect that precipitation to yield much more than a short-term reprieve from the high to extreme fire hazard that we've been experiencing for weeks," said Dryden-based fire information officer Chris Marchand on Monday.
The current weather forecast calls for a chance of more showers this week, but by week's end temperatures in many areas are expected to climb back into the 30s.
Marchand emphasized that the purpose of a Restricted Fire Zone is to reduce the potential for wildfires caused by humans, which typically account for 30 per cent to 50 per cent of all outbreaks in Northwestern Ontario.
"The goal is eliminating preventable human-caused fires. At this time the Northwest is experiencing escalated fire activity, with significant resources engaged in fighting those fires."
As of Monday morning, there were 41 active fires in the region, including 10 listed as not under control, four being held, four under control and 23 under observation.
Among fires of note, a blaze that has burned nearly 42,000 hectares on the western edge of Wabakimi Provincial Park showed aggressive behaviour on Saturday, and remains not under control.
A 31,000 hectare fire west of Ogoki Lake also exhibited extreme fire behaviour on the weekend.
The ministry said it continues to assess the values under threat in both areas, and the appropriate protection for those values.
To the northwest of Ogoki Lake, an 8,700 hectare blaze is being fought with helicopter bucket operations on priority areas to limit its spread.
