Officials say 180 fires continue to burn in northern Ontario

Officials with Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources put the active number of wildfires burning in the north at 180, with seven new blazes sparked yesterday.

Aerial photographs have shown the devastation in one northern Ontario First Nation as a wildfire tore through the region last week.

The photos show scorched earth and debris where buildings once stood in Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, also known as Collins First Nation, whose residents fled without help from the province.

First Nations leaders have said the Ontario government left communities to fend for themselves without timely support for evacuations, and are calling for a public inquiry into the provincial response to the wildfires that continue to devastate swaths of forest.

Earlier this week, Premier Doug Ford said his government did everything it could to respond to the wildfires. The province has said some of the blazes spread so quickly they were only seen once they were dangerously close to First Nations.

Ford has told wildfire evacuees not to return to their homes, and on Wednesday, Ontario Provincial Police said anyone found in areas under closure orders could face hundreds of dollars in fines, as well as three demerit points on their driver’s licence for failing to obey road signs.