Smell smoke? It’s Ontario!

If you’re smelling smoke in Cook County this week, it’s blowing down from huge wildfires burning to the north. The forest fire situation in Northwestern Ontario continues to spiral out of control.

According to the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal, heavy smoke overnight prompted the evacuation of another 950 elderly residents, children and people with respiratory problems from two remote First Nation communities. They join the over 2,000 small community residents already evacuated from the fire zones.

Ontario fire officials said the situation remains extreme with 94 active fires burning more than 627,600 acres in the region. Extreme fire behavior has forced firefighters to pull back to safe locations a number of times in the past few days. No relief appears in the near future, with winds still in the forecast.

Satellite images show heavy smoke extending from the Manitoba border to Quebec and as far south as New Brunswick. Electricity is out in many communities as power poles burn and a mining company has evacuated 800 of its employees.

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has 117 aircraft aloft, including 14 water bombers and 80 helicopters. In addition to over 350 ministry firefighters, an additional 500 rangers from other provinces are engaged in the control and suppression efforts.