Evacuation order extended for eastern Ontario community hit by wildfire
Work not done at Centennial Lake fire, township says
Residents in the Centennial Lake area west of Ottawa won't be able to return to their homes and cottages until Friday, but the wildfire is being contained, the township says.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the fire has been declared as "being held," the Township of Greater Madawaska said in a statement.
Fire crews are now moving to the clean-up stage of the burn area.
"Crews will continue to work and to monitor the area over the coming days," the township said.
The evacuation order for Black Mountain Estates, Little Bay Lane, Snider's Tent and Trailer Park and Aird's Lake Road, which began Sunday, was previously scheduled to end early Wednesday afternoon.
Officials from the Township of Greater Madawaska, Ont., said it's been extended until Friday at 3 p.m.
"Crews are back on the scene this morning; they still have the site flanked with hoses and are working on the suppression of the hot spots and preventive measures," the township said on Facebook.
"There is assistance from the HeliCat Helicopter, which can drop buckets of water at GPS locations where hot spots are found."
The township is still asking people to avoid the area to give crews space to work.
One cottager told CBC he watched from across the lake Sunday as the fire jumped from a small island to the mainland. It grew to be about 45 to 50 hectares in size.
WATCH | Video of the fire from Sunday:
Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry is investigating the cause of the fire, which is located about 50 kilometres west of Calabogie and 170 kilometres west of downtown Ottawa.
Fires in and around eastern Ontario and western Quebec are covering the region in smoke, causing dangerously poor air quality and changing or cancelling some events.
Western Quebec's poor air quality may persist for a few more days, according to Environment Canada, while eastern Ontario's may improve a bit Thursday before deteriorating again Friday.
Kitigan Zibi Anishinābeg is preparing for a possible evacuation. People evacuated from other Algonquin communities have been sent to Maniwaki, Gatineau and Ottawa.
The province has a fire ban in place for Renfrew County, where there is also an extreme fire risk — the highest level on Ontario's four-level scale. The risk of fire is also extreme in all surrounding counties except Ottawa
Ottawa, which isn't in one of these Ontario fire regions, has its own ban, as does Kingston and many other municipalities. Quebec has restricted access to some forests and parks.
