Just got a message from Atikokan - Ban is on starting tonight.

Oh shoot, heading in for my first time next week! More fuel it is I suppose.

I am surprised the BWCA doesn't have a fire ban.There is no personnel left to fight another fire.

sns: "Just got a message from Atikokan - Ban is on starting tonight."

Are you sure? There’s no alert for Quetico here: Ontario park alerts, and they’ve not posted anything about it on the official FB page. Usually they’re quick to announce. Or did you get inside info before it’s to be announced?

Also looks like a huge mass of moisture just moved through the entire park, and cooler air is on the way. I know one round of rain showers doesn’t end a fire ban, but it should help

I called the Park HQ back this afternoon. Confirmed; goes in effect tonight.

I am going in for two weeks; they said it is unlikely to be lifted during my trip...we'll see.

Interestingly, Cache and Prairie are apparently not yet manned, and they told me to print my confirmation letter as my permit.

I would think they will be manned very soon.

Yep, the alert is up now. Thanks for the heads-up.

sns: "I called the Park HQ back this afternoon. Confirmed; goes in effect tonight.

I am going in for two weeks; they said it is unlikely to be lifted during my trip...we'll see.

Interestingly, Cache and Prairie are apparently not yet manned, and they told me to print my confirmation letter as my permit.

I would think they will be manned very soon."

In the past, sometimes they had staff about one week after our fishing opener. I think it might coincide with some of their fish openers?

Quetico Provincial Park
19h ·
Please travel safely this weekend in NWO and be sure not to interfere with any fire suppression efforts. Refer to the Ontario.ca/fireupdates website for updates and road closures. Open fires will be prohibited in the Park throughout the weekend.

The forecast after tomorrow is dry. I hope the ban doesn’t last into September, but even more, I hope there aren’t any fires.

AKSTIGMO: "Oh shoot, heading in for my first time next week! More fuel it is I suppose. "

What portage and route are you taking?

We are taking 6x the fuel we used last year. Decided to buy different stoves - we've never had to cook all our meals on stoves. Will be different.

Rowthatboat: "

AKSTIGMO: "Oh shoot, heading in for my first time next week! More fuel it is I suppose. "

What portage and route are you taking? "

Heading in at Bottle River and making our way to Brent! Can't wait to explore. Was hoping the ban would hold off until after all this precipitation this weekend. In Ely we had a good amount of rain the last two days...

AKSTIGMO: "

Rowthatboat: "

AKSTIGMO: "Oh shoot, heading in for my first time next week! More fuel it is I suppose. "

What portage and route are you taking? "

Heading in at Bottle River and making our way to Brent! Can't wait to explore. Was hoping the ban would hold off until after all this precipitation this weekend. In Ely we had a good amount of rain the last two days..."

Brent is a solid lake with some great campsites and lots of nooks and crannies to explore, as well as plenty of day trip options and great lakes on the way there from basically any direction. I hope you have a blast! We'll be on Brent a couple weeks from now for our third time. Post a quick report after you get out if you can, especially if you fish!

i went in monday and it was 30c for 3 days. i came out saturday. the bush here is extremely dry. we did get some rain and temps have dropped substantially. but the ban is in place.
i am curious for those of you that carry sat comm devices.....is there a way to sign up with ontario parks for alert changes while in the back country?
i pair a zoleo with a cell phone and would be able to receive a text message for this. or do you perhaps have someone at home that monitors this for you and will notify you if there is a change?

I bring a weather radio. Most places, it works fine although a couple of dead zones have been noted (especially in north central part of Q). Go figure…

rick00001967: "i went in monday and it was 30c for 3 days. i came out saturday. the bush here is extremely dry. we did get some rain and temps have dropped substantially. but the ban is in place.
i am curious for this of you that carry sat comm devices.....is there a way to sign up with ontario parks for alert changes while in the back country?
i pair a zoleo with a cell phone and would be able to receive a text message for this. or do you perhaps have someone at home that monitors this for you and will notify you if there is a change?
"

I give my kids a note with links to the alerts page from the park and another to the weather forecast for the park. I can text via satellite on my iPhone and plan to text every few days for updates. I also use the BoltWX.com service for daily weather forecasts from the iPhone. Not as "disconnected" as 20 years ago, but it makes for a safer trip especially in dry conditions. I also have a satellite rescue device (in addition to the iPhone SOS option) that we can use in an emergency or if I lose my phone.

I'll be in the northern part of Quetico in just over 2 weeks. Judging by the relative lack of rain in the forecast, and the raging wildfires to the West, I expect the fire ban to still be active when we arrive. However, now I am becoming concerned with air quality as well. I am located in Chicago and the wildfire haze has been visible several of the last few days here, accompanied by air quality alerts.

I am just curious to see if anybody more local has any inside knowledge or insight as to the the air quality or predictions on length of the fire ban? Is the threat of poor air quality something that we should prepare for in advance of our trip? If so, how? If we get lucky with a few days of rain over the next couple weeks, might that be enough to quell the fire ban?

Our trip is scheduled for June 18-23 and funny enough, my weather forecaster predicts it to rain 4 straight days while we are there. Timing has never been my specialty.

i see only a couple of possible days with any amount of rain in the next 2 week. that could change but i would plan for the ban to still be in place.

i live about 2 hrs east of the eastern quetico park boundary and we have significant smoke in the air today. but this is the first i have really noticed.

obviously it will depend on the winds if it gets worse here or not. and the same goes for wherever you will be in the park.

i have some lung issues so for me, i would need to be careful on a decision to go or not if i was worried about the smoke in the park.

during the big park fires a few years back, i def cancelled any plans when things were really bad.

We were in last week, honestly no fires really wasn't that big of a deal. In the moment it didn't make much of a difference. Probably just went to bed earlier! Smoke starting coming in good on Thursday...

OMGitsKa: "We were in last week, honestly no fires really wasn't that big of a deal. In the moment it didn't make much of a difference. Probably just went to bed earlier! Smoke starting coming in good on Thursday...

"

I missed having a fire when it was near or below freezing in the first few days but by day 14 it was of little consequence other than the amount of stove fuel required. And yes, a couple days of pretty heavy smoke.