File photo

A total of six new forest fires were discovered over the weekend, bringing the number of active fires in the Northwest region up to 44.

There are several fires of note, including four which have burned a combined 104 thousand hectares.

They included Sioux Lookout 7 near Cat Lake First Nation, Sioux Lookout 33 near Wabakimi Provincial Park, Nipigon 13 west of Ogoki Lake and Red Lake 28, located 50 km north of Lac Seul First Nation.

Both Sioux Lookout 33 and Nipigon 13 exhibited aggressive and extreme behavior Saturday.

All of the named aforementioned fires are considered not under control as of Sunday evening.

But according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s fire map, the rainy weather we got over the weekend in some parts of the region did some good.

As of Sunday evening the forest fire hazard in the Kenora, Dryden, Fort Frances, Atikokan, Thunder Bay, Nipigon and Marathon areas have dropped to low.

However the further north you go the dryer it gets with moderate to extreme hazard in the Sioux Lookout, Red Lake, Geraldton and Far North regions.

Despite the changes a restricted fire zone remains in effect for all of Ontario.