The fire that caused evacuations in Henvey Inlet First Nation, Key River and Killarney was being held back by firefighters with some help from Mother Nature this morning, according to Shayne McCool, fire information officer for the Ministry of Natural Resources Northeast region.
Estimates from Environment Canada are the region saw 3.5 mm of rain in the last 24 hours. McCool cautioned that as the sun shines and the humidity goes down, the fire could regroup.
An update from the MNR to the Key River Area Association this afternoon indicated that the fire is still being classified as out of control and there's no time exact timetable for when it will be brought under control.
"The status of the fire will depend completely on our ability to surpress it and the conditions we see in the weather," said McCool
The MNR's more recent update, has the size of the fire at 5,612 hectars, growing by more than 600 hectares since Monday morning's estimate of around 5,000.
Evacuation notices remain in place, although currently smoke conditions are much less severe. There are no highway closures today. McCool confirmed there are volunteers fighting the fire from all across Canada, the United States and from as far away as Mexico.
French River Provincial Park, west of Highway 69 is closed. The Visitor Centre is also closed to the public until further notice.
As of Monday morning there was no smoke or fire visible at the French River Trading Post, and there is no smell of smoke either. The Trading Post closed early on Saturday, July 21, but has since reopened.
French River Trading Post employee Lorraine Dowland was evacuated at Pickerel River Road. People coming through have said they have been evacuated from French River area.
Rob Stuckless who lives at Henvey Inlet First Nation returned from vacation at around 7 p.m. on Saturday to learn he was under an evacuation notice. He said if he was given the choice, he would have stayed behind because he wasn’t concerned for his property. He is now staying with a friend.
Those wishing to stay, despite the evacuation, have been asked to sign a waiver.
“Fire wouldn’t have bothered me,” said Stuckless, who lives on the opposite side of the highway from the fire. “I heard that down in Key River, they didn’t lose any cottages, but down at the bottom end of the Pickerel River, there’s a few gone.”
Key River residents were under a mandatory evacuation order in the afternoon of Friday, July 20 and members of the Henvey Inlet First Nation community were under mandatory evacuation on Saturday, July 21.
All road access properties in the area of the fire are under a 12-hour notice of evacuation order.
A significant amount of smoke continues along Highway 69 south of Grundy Lake Provincial Park.
If you're travelling, plan to avoid the areas of Highway 69 in the Key River and Henvey Inlet First Nation areas.
Ministry of Natural Resources officials have indicated that they are in this for the long haul and that their focus is to work on the fringes of the existing fire to ensure suppression and safety of people and cottages/residents.
-With files from Parry Sound North Star
