WINDSOR

Officials say 21 of 55 Ontario forest fires remain out of control

The Canadian Press Published Tuesday, July 24, 2018 5:33AM EDT

Smoke from a nearby forest fire is seen at the Hartley Bay marina in Alban, Ont. near the French River Provincial Park in this undated handout photo. Crews are continuing to battle dozens of forest fires in northeastern Ontario, after the biggest of the blazes more than doubled in size over the course of a day. The province's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said in a release that as of Saturday night 64 fires were burning in the region, with 29 of them out of control.THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

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TORONTO - Firefighters were battling 55 forest fires as of late Monday in northeast Ontario, of which 21 were not yet under control.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said one of the fires dubbed Cochrane 14 northeast of Timmins had grown to 4,899 hectares and remained out of a control.

A larger blaze called Parry Sound 33 measured 5,612 hectares as of late Monday and was being fought with planes and helicopters.

On Saturday, the provincial ministry called for a mandatory evacuation of residents in the area with boat access only and for all other residents to be placed on an evacuation alert.

The French River Provincial Park has been fully closed west of Highway 69/400 and all campers were being or have been evacuated.

The ministry says firefighters and equipment "have poured in" from across Canada, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Mexico to help Ontario-based crews.