Despite some recent rain Parry Sound 33 is still not under control.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry says the forest fire still has some extremely dry fuel conditions, even though about 10mm of rain fell.
The good news is the fire, which is the fourth largest forest fire in Ontario, only showed minimal growth over the weekend. It’s sitting at 11,362 hectares in size. The MNRF says firefighters were able to take advantage of the rain, high humidity, and low winds over the weekend to solidify their control lines around the fire.
The evacuation order for Travers, Allen, Struthers, Kilpatrick, Bigwood (including Hartley Bay Road), a portion of Mowat, the Unsurveyed Area, 14 Mile Island and French River Provincial Park still remains in effect, as does the evacuation order alert for the Alban area west of the high powered hydro lines on Highway 64.
As of last night there were 44 active forest fires across the northeast, with the MNRF saying 18 are not yet under control. Ontario is receiving support from across Canada, the United States and Mexico to assist with the fire situation. A total of 556 firefighters and support staff are currently in the province.
Parry Sound, and the entire district for that matter, remains a Restricted Fire Zone. That means all open flames, including fireworks, are totally banned. Ignoring that could leave your wallet $25,000 lighter because of fines, on top of having to pay for the costs of fighting a forest fire, and put you behind bars for three months.