The Red Lake Fire Has Been 100% Contained After Rain Drenched The Area
This is amazing news! The Red Lake fire is now fully contained after lots of rain fell in the area throughout the day on Friday and then overnight. However, displaced residents aren't being allowed back into the community just yet.
In the afternoon on August 15, the municipality announced on Facebook that Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said the fire is 100% contained.
"We thank all those essential services for their tremendous work," the municipality said.
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Volunteer firefighters and ones with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry along with other essential workers have been in the community to fight the blaze.
While this is great to hear, the municipality is warning residents that had to be evacuated to be patient.
That's because crews are in the process of restoring services like natural gas to get the hospital up and running first.
Then other essential services like grocery stores and gas stations will follow.
Re-entry into Red Lake will happen after that.
An order that forced people to leave the area is still in effect and will stay that way until further notice.
So, nobody can enter the community or any of the surrounding areas without a travel permit.
"Please remain patient," the municipality said.
More updates will come later in the day.
According to The Weather Network, 57 millimetres of rain fell in Red Lake on Friday, a day before it was announced that the fire was contained.
"That really is a game-changer for the fire fighting effort," said Chris Marchand, fire information officer with Ontario's Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services, to CTV News.
The blaze was being held at 552 hectares which is down from the 750 hectares that were up in flames when it started on August 10.
It had rained earlier in the week but it wasn't enough to get the fire under control.
As of August 13, about 3,800 residents voluntarily evacuated according to the mayor.
That left about 200 in the community and they were all warned to leave.