A forest fire near Gogama has doubled in size since yesterday.
According to the daily Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES) update, the Timmins 2 fire west of Gogama is 300 hectares in size and reached Highway 144 today, causing the road to be closed from Highway 560 to Highway 661.
There are 10 FireRanger crews working on the fire, along with water bombers and helicopters bucketing water.
The AFFES says smoke from the fire may impact Gogama, and advises people with health concerns due to smoke to contact Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000.
On its Facebook page, the Gogama Fire Department said the community is under an evacuation alert.
It advises residents leaving the community voluntarily to stop at the community centre to sign out of town.
The AFFES reports nine active fires in the northeast region.
Of those, four are not under control, three are being held and two are under control.
Five new fires started in the region June 8. They are:
• Sudbury 5, which is about .4 hectares and near a rail corridor near Ruby Lake, about 11 kilometres west of Alban. It is not under control.
• Chapleau 4 is about eight hectares and not under control. It's located about 17 kilometres northwest of Foleyet.
• Sudbury 4 is being held at .1 hectares and is near the western shore of Wanapitei Lake, about 6.5 kilometres east of Capreol.
• Sudbury 3 is under control and about .1 hectares. It's located about 13 kilometres north of Capreol.
• Parry Sound 2 is about one hectare and not under control. It's located near the rail corridor near Littles Lake, about 38 kilometres northeast of Parry Sound.
Right now, the AFFES says the forest fire hazard in the northeast region is high to extreme in Wawa, Chapleau and Timmins. It is predominantly high hazard conditions in the Sudbury, North Bay and Cochrane sectors.
