Forest fire near Kenora, Ont. causes heavy smoke, road closure

Forest fires closed three separate highways in northwestern Ontario on Saturday, but provincial police say traffic is flowing again Sunday on the roads to Shoal Lake, Dryden and Sioux Lookout.

• Highway 673 from Highway 17 to Shoal Lake 39 First Nation was closed from about 2 p.m. on Saturday until 9:30 p.m. local time.
• Highway 502 south of Dryden was closed at about 5:30 p.m. because of a fire and residents of Lever Road were evacuated form their homes. The road reopened and residents returned a few hours later.
• Highway 512, about 12 kilometres from Sioux Lookout was closed at about 3:30 p.m. and reopened about 7 p.m. The fire that caused that closure is about 10 hectares.

The biggest of the fires is Kenora Fire Number 28, near Shoal Lake. It grew to 350 hectares under high winds on Saturday, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. 

But the Ministry said as of Saturday night the fire was not a threat to any community, including Shoal Lake 39, which is several kilometres to the south and the fire is burning north.

Smoke from that fire is expected to be visible on Highway 17 Sunday.

The forest fire hazard remains high across the northwest, and extreme in the far north, according to the Ministry.