A major forest fire in the White River area continues to grow.
Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry's showing "Wawa 3" - located within the Kakakiwibik Esker north of Highway 17 - is now about 4800 hectares in size and is still not under control.
In an update this morning, the Township of White River emphasized there's no threat to the community from that blaze - which has been dubbed the "Depew Fire" - nor from the 105-hectare fire known as "Wawa 2" or the "Crocker Lake Fire" - as it's located south of Highway 17 and Crocker's Lake, about 5.5 kilometres west of White River - though Highway 631 has once again closed between White River and Hornepayne, with the Township saying the MNRF requested that since the fire and smoke encroaching on the highway and water bombers may interfere with travel - it's unclear how long it'll remain closed, as it was closed from late Monday afternoon until about 11 o'clock this morning, closing again around 2 o'clock this afternoon.
The Township's also reported a reduced speed zone along part of Highway 17 near the Depew River, due to smoke.
White River's suspended all burning permits and open burning within municipal boundaries - due to "extremely dry conditions and lack of rainfall in the forecast", which has helped fuel the fires on either side of the community - while Environment Canada's issued a special air quality statement for the White River and Dubreuilville areas, warning "high levels of air pollution have developed" from the smoke and - while smoke can be harmful to everyone's health, even at low concentrations - people with lung or heart disease, older adults, children, pregnant people, and those who work outdoors are at higher risk of experiencing health effects.
Some better news further east, as the "Chapleau 1" fire reported yesterday - about six kilometres east of Chapleau and less than a kilometre south of Gallagher Lake - is listed as "being held" at 2.3 hectares in size.
The Township of Chapleau has, however, banned outdoor fires in the community due to "current hot dry conditions and extreme fire hazard".