CBC transmitter equipment damaged by forest fire near Pickle Lake, Ont.

A forest fire near Pickle Lake, about 550 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay, Ont., has damaged transmission equipment for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in the area, knocking out the CBC signal for people in the community.

According to a site monitor, the transmission line to the tower was burned, and only two walls remain of the shed-type building which housed the equipment. However, the satellite dish appears to be unscathed.

"We're working to find a short term and long term solution to the issue," said Michael Dick, the executive producer for CBC in Thunder Bay and across northwestern Ontario. "We aim to restore service as quickly as possible".

Forest fire leads to hydro, phone outages

Listeners in the area may be able to receive CBC programming by tuning into 104.5 FM in Mishkeegogomang First Nation, which is about 30 km to the south of Pickle Lake.

The flames from the fire, known as Sioux Lookout 8, also damaged other infrastructure in Pickle Lake, leading to hydro and phone outages in the community.

Heavy rain in the region through the weekend helped to slow down the fire, which was about 833 hectares in size on Monday evening.

Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry officials stated Monday that 17 crews are assigned to the fire and an incident management team is in charge of the operation.

Crews building fire guard, installing sprinklers

Heavy equipment is being used to build a fire guard in critical areas and sprinkler systems have been installed on buildings and infrastructure as a precaution.

Dryer conditions are expected on Tuesday, with the chance of more rain later in the day.