By Canadian Press

Fire burns through at least 125 hectares of marsh in Point Pelee National Park

Mar 30, 2017 | 9:00 AM

LEAMINGTON, Ont. — A southwestern Ontario national park popular with bird watchers is closed after a fire burned through part of the site on the north shore of Lake Erie.

Leamington, Ont., fire officials say the blaze at Point Pelee National Park appears to be out.

Leamington fire tweeted that rain and a “great job” by firefighters and park staff helped extinguish the blaze.

They say at least 125 hectares of marsh area was lost in the fire.

Officials say the park, which is a stopping point for migrating songbirds in the spring and monarch butterflies in the fall, is closed until further notice.

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Point Pelee is a 10-kilometre sandspit with its southern point equal in latitude to the northern border of California, making it the southernmost point in Canada.

Parks Canada say the marshes on the peninsula make up one of the largest remaining wetland areas in southern Canada.

It says over the last 100 years, 347 bird species have been recorded with almost 100 species nesting at Point Pelee, which is also home to more than 700 species of flowering and non-flowering plants.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

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Fire burns through at least 125 hectares of marsh in Point Pelee National Park

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