Several burn bans issued across Golden Horseshoe due to ‘extreme’ wildfire risk

Several municipalities in southern Ontario have issued an open-air burn ban Monday due to dry conditions and an “extreme” risk of wildfires.

An interactive map from Natural Resources Canada shows an “extreme” fire danger for much of southern Ontario, including Hamilton, Niagara Region, Brantford-Brant, Haldimand-Norfolk and Toronto.

Open-air burn bans are in place until further notice for Milton, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Pelham, Port Colborne and West Lincoln. This means campfires, outdoor fireplaces, fire pits, sky lanterns, chimineas, cooking fires, etc., are prohibited.

The local fire bans come as the city of Kawartha Lakes in Ontario says water bombers and firefighters have been battling a significant forest fire in the Burnt River area since Friday.

Officials say about 27 hectares or a little more than one-quarter of a square kilometre of forest was burning in the community northeast of Toronto as of Sunday.

They say city firefighters, the Trent Lakes Fire Service and multiple Ministry of Natural Resources crews from the Haliburton detachment are battling the blaze.

Officials say additional resources from North Bay crews were being deployed to assist and aerial water bombers were also targeting the most active fire zones on Sunday.

The city says the fire is burning in a heavily wooded area where ice storm damage left hazardous terrain, making hose deployment challenging.

No evacuations have been ordered but the city is urging residents and visitors to avoid the fire area, and closed off County Road 49 between County Road 121 and Bury’s Green Road.

With files from The Canadian Press.

WATCH MORE: Hamilton police, fire investigate four suspicious early Sunday fires