The fire that caused evacuations in Henvey Inlet First Nation, Key River and parts of the Killarney municipality continues to challenge firefighting efforts.
Sudbury.com scoured social media for images and video footage people close to the fires have recorded and shared publicly online. The material captures the scale of the fires and the enormous effort being expended to contain the fire.
Parry Sound 33 measured 5,612 hectares as of late Monday and is currently being fought with planes and helicopters. While not a large fire by Northern Ontario standards (where fires of tens of thousands of hectares have been recorded), the fires are occurring in more populated areas, hence the need for evacuations, provincial park closures, and road restrictions.
Firefighters and equipment have been brought in from across Canada, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Mexico to help Ontario-based crews.
According to a national CBC report, construction on a large wind-turbine project on Henvey Inlet First Nation may have ignited the Parry Sound 33 fire.
However, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said the fire's cause is listed as “unknown,” and is under investigation.
As of late Monday, firefighters were battling 55 forest fires in northeast Ontario, 21 of those fires are still not under control.
There's a chance of rain predicted to fall across northeastern Ontario each day this week, which will hopefully give firefighters some relief.
Check back to Sudbury.com as we will have updates on the cause of the fire, current evacuations and restricted fire zones.
