The Restricted Fire Zone is being expanded as of midnight tonight.
It will include the area all the way to the City of Thunder Bay and eastwards.
Fire Information Officer Chris Marchand says that’s because of the increasing fire hazard in this region.
“This change reflects the continued high to extreme fire hazard across the northwest as well as the significant fire activity that is affecting various communities and is really engaging a lot of our resources at the moment,” explains Marchand.
Marchand says it will now take in the City of Thunder Bay and areas to the east and north.
“The expansion of the RFZ extends eastward from its previous boundaries near Upsala and Quetico Park to encompass the Thunder Bay area, north to Armstrong and beyond. And the Nipigon River is acting at the RFZ’s new eastern boundary.”
In the meantime, he says Red Lake Fire #12, which is located near the Deer Lake First Nation airport has grown from 100 hectares Thursday afternoon, to over 25 hundred hectares.
An initial evacuation order of the community’s most vulnerable residents has been issued.
