Restricted fire area extended into the northeast region

The Ministry of Natural Resources hopes it will reduce the number of human-caused wildland fires

To help prevent human-caused forest fires, a restricted fire zone that's been in effect for Northwestern Ontario has been extended to a large section of the northeast. The Ministry of Natural Resources restrictions take effect on Saturday, July 18. It prevents all open-air burning.

Portable gas or propane stoves may still be used for cooking, but handled with extreme care. The expanded zone generally includes Timmins, Iroquois Falls, Smooth Rock Falls, Kapuskasing, Hearst, Wawa, Caramat and Lake Superior Provincial Park. With hot, dry weather, many municipalities have already imposed their own fire ban.

"This order is required to reduce the number of human-caused wildland fires. We are expecting the current fire hazard to remain, along with the potential for problematic fires to continue and expect a continuation of the increased forest fire activity into the foreseeable future," reads the notice. As of the last fire update on July 16, there were 190 forest fires burning in Northern Ontario.

In the north east, the number of active fires has increased to 61. Of those, 18 are not under control, six are being held, seven are under control and 30 are being observed. In northwestern Ontario, there are 129 active fires.

Of those, 62 are not under control, five fires are being held, four are under control, and 58 are being observed. So far this year, there have been 503 fires in Ontario. At this point last year, there had been 357.

The 10-year average is 326 fires. Smoke from the fires has been affecting communities thousands of kilometres away. It's been blowing southeast, impacting the air quality in southern Ontario cities and into the United States.

Firesmoke.ca has real-time maps of the situation and shows smoke blowing from northwestern Ontario into southern Ontario. Google Maps also offers a layer that shows forest fire locations and where the smoke is blowing. To get more details on the active fires, the daily updates are shared here.

An interactive map is available here.