Northwestern Ontario's restricted fire zone to remain in place despite weekend rain

Despite a wet weekend in some parts of northwestern Ontario, there are currently no plans to lift the region's restricted fire zone, the province said Monday.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry put the restricted fire zone in place on June 1 due to the high forest fire hazard in the region. Municipalities, including Thunder Bay, implemented fire bans as a result.

Though some southern parts of the region received anywhere from five to 25 milimetres of rain this weekend, officials said that's likely nothing more than a "short-term reprieve" from the high to extreme fire hazards, which should return in the next few days. 

"Hazard conditions in the south, where that rain did fall, are expected to rebound within a day or two with the hot, dry, and windy weather that we have in store for us," said Chris Marchand, fire information office with Ontario's Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES).

In addition, Marchand said, restricted fire zones go a long way toward eliminating human-caused fires.

"We are still in a time of escalated fire activity, with some significant resources engaged in fighting those fires," Marchand said. "So this restricted fire zone really is playing an important role in reducing the number of human-caused fires out in the landscape."

'Smoke is a fickle thing'

As of midday Monday, there were 41 active fires in the northwest. Of those, 10 weren't under control and none posted any immediate threat to communities in the region.

Smoke, however, is a concern. Modelling data from the Fire Smoke project at the University of British Columbia suggests there will be heavy smoke in the Thunder Bay region in the coming days.

"A lot of our local smoke is generating out of the Cochrane district or some of those fires that are located on the Quebec-Ontario border and being drawn in by easterly winds," Marchand said. "I think over the weekend some of our local smoke was generated more with those larger fires in the Wabakimi Provincial Park area, as well as some in the Red Lake Sector.

"Smoke is a is a fickle thing that can often come from thousands of kilometres away or it can be fairly close, depending on the weather that's bringing it into you."

Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for the Thunder Bay area due to wildfire smoke. 

Dr. Birubi Biman, respirologist at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and associate professor of medicine at NOSM University, said the air quality may cause more persistent and prevalent symptoms among people with lung problems such as asthma.

"A lot of patients, for instance, with asthma have an action plan or [are] pretty comfortable escalating therapies as needed," Biman said. "But certainly this is unexpected, and we know that in the last couple of weeks, their symptoms might have been a little bit less well controlled.

"We know that a lot of patients are coming into hospital with not just symptoms of irritation, but also infectious symptoms, infectious disease," she said.

"Normally they might have been treated at home or treated as an outpatient, but we actually see that they're coming into the [emergency department], and certainly they're calling the office, they're calling their family physicians, they're calling the respirologist office, because they're not well controlled and they have exhausted all steps of their action plan."

Biman said hospitals expect to see more people than normal coming to the hospital with these types of complications. 

Those with normal lung function may experience smoke-related issues as well, such as eye irritation, a runny nose or shortness of breath, particularly if they're spending long periods outdoors, exercising or in an area that's poorly ventilated, she said.

People should use an air purifier, and keeping any needed medications at hand and wearing an N95 mask while outdoors can also help.

Biman also said people experiencing smoke-related issues should let family members or colleagues know so they can provide assistance.