Tornado-damaged forest to get prescribed burn

The Ministry of Natural Resources is planning to ignite two prescribed burns in the Wind Road and Socket Lake areas of northwestern Ontario.

The locations are approximately 75 kilometres north of Sioux Lookout.

The Wind Road burn is roughly 1,000 hectares in size and is in a forest damaged by a tornado that tracked from the west in 2007. It left a path 10 kilometres long. The ministry says tracking of radio-collared woodland caribou has shown the debris is a continuous barrier to travel for the animals.

The ministry warns that road closures may occur from Thursday to Saturday, depending on fire and smoke conditions in the area. Fire rangers will stop traffic near Socket Lake to advise of any delays caused by the fires.

The planned burns are the second and third in a series. The MNR continues to monitor a prescribed burn in the Horse Lake area of Sioux Lookout district that was started on Sept. 27. 

Ministry personnel will monitor the fires over the next few days to ensure they do not pose any threat to the public.

One or both of the burns may be rescheduled if factors such as weather affect their successful completion, the MNR said.

The burns are scheduled to take place Thursday and Friday.