Ontario calls in help from the Minnesota firefighters

Two crews and a safety officer from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources are in Ontario to help fight the Nipigon 66 fire.  Minnesota has an agreement through the Great Lakes Forest Fire Compact with Michigan, Wisconsin and the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba to provide assistance with firefighting personnel and resources when conditions warrant.  The crews are assigned for a 14-day rotation.

The crews will join more than 2,000 firefighters from throughout Canada who are working to control more than 120 fires in the province. A near-record of over 1.5 million acres of forest have burned in Ontario this year.

Minnesota also has crew members working on clearing roads and trails in the blowdown areas in Pine County where 161,000 acres were impacted by the July 1 storm. The heaviest impact starts west of St. Croix State Park. The July 19 storm damaged 24,500 acres, mostly on state forest lands. Between the two storms, 185,000 acres have been impacted in Pine County.