Hundreds of people have left their homes in "bone-dry" northwestern Ontario, where fire crews are struggling to control more than 300 fires burning in the region.

Lightning strikes have caused most of the fires burning in the area northwest of Thunder Bay, including the 60 new fires that started on Tuesday, said Debbie MacLean, with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.

Heavy smoke from about 300 fires burning northwest of Thunder Bay, Ont., have driven about 700 people from their homes in Deer Lake, Sandy Lake and Keewaywin.
(CBC)

"Currently, there are about 300 fires burning," she said of the region north of Lake Superior, stretching from Thunder Bay to Rainy River. "It's bone-dry in Central Canada."

About 700 people have left their homes in the northern communities of Deer Lake, Sandy Lake and Keewaywin because of heavy smoke from the fires.

The evacuees, who include children, seniors and people with respiratory problems, are being housed in various communities in the municipality of Greenstone, said its mayor, Michael Power.

"It's a terrible thing to say but we're old hands at this," said Power. "For many years the community of Geraldton in Greenstone has been doing this, acting as a host to people who flee their homes from fires."

Power said nurses from the various communities travelled to Greenstone with the evacuees to look after their daily needs.

Dozens of new fires daily

The influx is a challenge for Greenstone's resources and public employees, he said, but it's something they feel they have to do.

"You can't stand by and see your fellow human being in a time of need not being welcomed and not do everything you possibly can to ease the stress they face when they flee their home and they don’t know what they're going back to," Power said.

He said the municipality is expecting additional evacuees as emergencies are called in other communities.

MacLean said local fire crews are working long hours to battle the dozens of small blazes popping up daily. Firefighters are managing to contain about 40 fires per day, but anywhere from 60 to 100 new fires start daily, she said.

"The sheer number of fires is outpacing the resources we have," said MacLean.

Heavy smoke a problem

David Cleaveley, a fire officer with the Natural Resources Department, said the situation is one of the worst department staff can remember this late in the year.

Many of the problems in the northern communities are caused by heavy smoke from the fires.

"The smoke is so thick we can't even land planes there to talk to the people," Cleaveley said.

He said 21 heavy water bombers are being used to fight the fires.

Local crews were cut in half after student firefighters returned to school, Cleaveley said, but crews are starting to trickle in from other provinces, including Saskatchewan and Quebec.

With files from the Associated Press