White River's continuing to watch a pair of forest fires burning on either side of the community.
Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry still shows both blazes as "not under control", with "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 - as 105-hectares in size, while "Wawa 3" - or the "Depew Fire", which is located within the Kakakiwibik Esker north of Highway 17 - is about 4800 hectares in size.
While the Township of White River's emphasized there's no threat to the community from the fires, Highway 631 is closed between White River and Hornepayne, with a reduced speed zone along part of Highway 17 near the Depew River, due to smoke, which has also prompted Environment Canada to issue 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.
White River has 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.
Further east, the "Chapleau 1" fire reported Monday - about six kilometres east of Chapleau and less than a kilometre south of Gallagher Lake - is now listed as "under control" 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".