Homes evacuated as blazes ravage parts of Ontario

More than 50 homes have been evacuated in northeastern Ontario this weekend due to the threat of raging forest fires, authorities said Saturday.

A mandatory evacuation order was issued Friday for the Key Harbour area and the municipality of Killarney, south of the French River Provincial Park, after a fire more than quadrupled in size to about 19 square kilometres, according to Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

An additional order was issued Saturday for an area from the western and northern borders of French River Provincial Park, east to the TransCanada Highway, and as far south as the south shore of the Key River.

The order affected all residents whose homes are accessible only by boat. Those with road access were placed on evacuation alert, meaning they had to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice if conditions were to change.

Provincial police were “assisting the Henvey Inlet First Nation with an evacuation of their village,” according to a statement.

“Our community is devastated,” said Jennifer Kivinen, co-president of the Key River Area Association, which represents a group of seasonal and permanent residents in northeastern Georgian Bay.

Kivinen said she is at her cottage on the north side of the French River and she could see the smoke and damage caused by the forest fires on the other side of the park. “The impact is huge environmentally,” she said. “It is extremely sad if we lose our cottage. But I just want everyone to be safe.”

Isabelle Chenard, a spokeswoman for Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, said: “Everyone who was evacuated was evacuated by boat.”