Wildfire evacuation order west of Sudbury, Ont., expands, highway closed
A wildfire west of Sudbury, Ont., has quadrupled in size prompting evacuation orders to be expanded and one highway to close.
More than 57 kilometres of Highway 810 are closed between Highway 553 and Ritchie Falls as forest fire Sudbury 17 reached 4,211 hectares (ha) in size Wednesday evening.
Facing evacuations due to a forest fire or flood? Here's what to pack in a grab-and-go bag
Here's what you need to do before you leave your house in a forest fire-prompted evacuation
The fire that started Sunday is located north of Madaweson Lake --between the highway and Mississagi Provincial Park -- and is still not under control. It is about 55 km north of the community of Massey, which is about 96 km west of Greater Sudbury.
Wednesday evening, the evacuation area was expanded to the townships of Olinyk, Plourde (south half), Prescott, Redden (west half), Strain, Teasdale, Poncet, Lehman, Lockeyer, Gerow and Gaiashik.
"Specifically, all travel and use of Highway 553 (also known as the Massey Tote Rd) south of Cameron Creek at UTM Zone 17 E 408201 N 5136071, as outlined on the attached Implementation Order map within the EAO," the Ministry of Natural Resources Forestry said.
"All travel and use of Pecors Rd at the Joubin, Gaiashik Township boundary at UTM Zone 17 E 389417 N 5136617, as outlined on the attached Implementation Order map within the EAO. All persons are prohibited from entering the area indicated on the attached map unless authorized by a travel permit issued by the MNRF."
Derrick Luetchford is the person to contact with questions about the evacuation notice. Luetchford can be reached by email at derrick.luetchford@ontario.ca or (705) 929-4166 by phone.
This is in addition to the Highway 810 area north of the 17-mile crossover and south of Ritchie Falls.
The travel use and access restrictions in that area have also expanded east of Highway 810.
- Wildfire smoke causing poor air quality in the north
- Can face masks help protect you from wildfire smoke? Health expert explains
- Northern Ont. communities evacuating due to spreading wildfires
FIRE STATISTICS
In the last 24 hours, there have been seven new wildfires in northern Ontario – two in the northeast and five in the northwest.
One fire of note is Kirkland Lake 5, which is located eight km north of Lady Evelyn Smoothwater and 10 km south of Highway 65, started around 3:20 p.m. Wednesday and grew to 500 ha in just a few hours.
As of Thursday morning, there are 56 active wildfires in northern Ontario – 34 in the northeast and 22 in the northwest. Of those, 27 are not under control.
Four of the largest forest fires in the northeast -- Wawa 3, Cochrane 6 and 7 and Timmins 7 -- have not grown in size, but are not yet under control.
Chapleau 3 more than doubled Wednesday to 1,531 ha and Sudbury 10 more than tripled Wednesday to 403 ha.
As of Wednesday, there have been a total of 189 wildfires in the region since April 12 and 133 have been extinguished. A total of 42,041 ha have been burned as a result.
CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca will continue to have daily and breaking news updates as the forest fire situation continues.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Helicopter carrying multiple people crashes near Prince George, B.C.
A helicopter with "multiple people on board" crashed near Prince George, B.C., Tuesday morning, according to authorities.
NDP calls on federal government to act on Nagorno-Karabakh crisis, impose sanctions
The federal New Democrats are calling on Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly to take action against Azerbaijan in light of escalating violence involving ethnic Armenians in its Nagorno-Karabakh region.
DEVELOPING All sides calling for Speaker Rota to resign, what happens if he does?
Pressure is ramping up for House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota to resign, with all parties now publicly calling for him to 'do the honourable thing,' and vacate the Speaker's chair over his invitation to and the House's subsequent recognition of a man who fought for a Nazi unit during the Second World War.
Here's how governments across Canada fared when it came to poverty in 2023: report
A new report from Food Banks Canada says governments across the country are not doing enough to address poverty.
Biden will join the UAW strike picket line. Experts can't recall the last time a president did that
U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to stand alongside United Auto Workers pickets on Tuesday on the 12th day of their strike against major carmakers underscores support of labour unions that appears to be unparalleled in presidential history.
Ontario businessman loses $38K in cheque-cashing scam
An Ontario businessman says he has to pay about $38,000 after he was the victim of a cheque-cashing scam and failed to immediately report the fraudulent activity to his bank. The businessman says that the reason for the delay is because he doesn't use online banking.
Pope, condemning body shaming, uses personal example from boyhood
Pope Francis on Tuesday condemned body shaming among young people, acknowledging that he was guilty of doing it himself when he was a boy in Argentina more than seven decades ago.
Striking Hollywood actors vote to authorize new walkout against video game makers
Striking actors have voted to expand their walkout to include the lucrative video game market, a step that could put new pressure on Hollywood studios to make a deal with the performers who provide voices and stunts for games.
'Deeply hurtful': Polish ambassador condemns Nazi veteran's invitation to Canada's Parliament
Polish ambassador to Canada says House Speaker Anthony Rota's apology doesn’t go far enough after a Nazi veteran was honoured in the House of Commons last Friday.