Three new small wildfires ignited in the Pontiac on Thanksgiving Monday (Oct. 13) – one on chemin du Devonshire in Mansfield, one just north of Thorne Lake, and the third on chemin MacCreadie in Otter Lake. 

By Tuesday afternoon, the Mansfield fire (0.4 Ha) had been extinguished and the Thorne fire (10.5 Ha) was categorized as being held, meaning it is no longer spreading, with SOPFEU firefighters working to extinguish it throughout Tuesday. 

On Tuesday morning, SOPFEU’s Outaouais spokesperson Melanie Morin said firefighters were notified of the Otter Lake fire too late on Monday evening to begin working on it, but would be back on the scene with water bombers for most of Tuesday to contain it. 

In a Monday night Facebook post, the Pontiac North Fire Department provided an update that the fire had been contained, that no home or cottage “was touched by flames,” and that SOPFEU would be taking over on Tuesday.

By Tuesday afternoon, the fire was 6.8 Ha and was categorized as “being held”. 

Since Oct. 1, when the Outaouais-wide fire ban was put in place, there have been 10 new wildfires in MRC Pontiac, covering a total of 31.6 Ha. At present, the largest fire in the Outaouais (at 21.8 Ha) has been burning just west of Lac Cahill in Zec St-Patrice since Oct. 5. Its cause is listed as recreation, and its status is currently “under control.”

This story will be updated as more information is received.