KENORA – The wildfire north of Wabaseemoong Independent Nations is “being held” while the giant blaze west of the community is still a growing concern, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.
An evacuation order for the area, including Wabaseemoong, remains in place.
The ministry changed the status of Kenora 14, a 1,600-hectare fire north of Wabaseemoong, last week to “being held.”
The status means Kenora 14 is not likely to spread beyond existing boundaries under current weather conditions.
“Being held” status “indicates that, with currently committed resources, sufficient suppression action has been taken so that the fire is not likely to spread beyond its current boundaries,” MNR fire information officer Alison Bezubiak told Newswatch by email Wednesday.
“At this time there are fire crews on the ground at Kenora 14, patrolling for and extinguishing hot spots.”
Bezubiak said Kenora 20, on the other hand, has grown a little to more than 32,000 hectares – 29,729 hectares in Ontario, the remainder in Manitoba.
The northeast end of the wildfire is within two kilometres of the community, she said.
“Fire Ranger crews have completed values protection with sprinklers on all structures within the community and helicopter bucketing is ongoing on hot spots nearest to the community,” she added.
“There has been no growth or change in perimeter on this section of the fire for several days, but further work is necessary to minimize potential for fire to spot over or breach existing lines as drying continues and winds shift.”
Meanwhile, the wind has shifted “to a westerly flow (that) has brought more smoke into Kenora and surrounding areas,” Bezubiak said.
“We are expecting stronger winds over the next few days that will likely bring increased smoke impacts to the area.”
Current and forecasted smoke conditions can be found online at firesmoke.ca.
Wabaseemoong, located approximately 120 kilometres northwest of Kenora on Treaty 3 territory, has been evacuated for about two weeks.
The community underwent an evacuation as Kenora 20, then measuring 23,000 hectares, was about 2.5 kilometres away.
Most Wabaseemoong residents were taken to Niagara Falls, where they are staying in hotels near each other. Others are in Kenora and Winnipeg.
A news release from the First Nation said it “has established teams at each evacuation site” to provide services to members while the evacuation is ongoing.
