Smoke from forest fires forces some evacuations from Deer Lake First Nation
Evacuation ordered as smoke blankets Ontario reserve
Sept 06 2006 - CBC News Online at http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/09/06/evacuation-smoke.html
Some residents of a remote community in northern Ontario were ordered to leave their homes Tuesday as more than 30 forest fires burned nearby.
About 200 people, mainly children, the elderly and those with respiratory problems, were told to leave the First Nation of Deer Lake, about 300 kilometres north of Red Lake, because smoke from a cluster of fires has been lingering over the community of 700.
According to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, the evacuation order was imposed on Tuesday and the operation was expected to continue on Wednesday.
A reception centre in Geraldton, a community of more than 2,000 people north of Lake Superior, has been set up for people leaving the community.
There are more than 40 active fires across northern Ontario, mostly in the northwest.
As of Aug. 31, the ministry said 1,468 fires have burned about 20,562 hectares in the province.
Last year, 1,735 fires burned about 42,500 hectares in Ontario by the Labour Day long weekend.
With files from the Canadian Press