TIMMINS, Ont. – Emergency officials in northern Ontario say the powerful winds that have fanned the flames of fierce wildfires and pushed smoke and ash toward Timmins have calmed down.

Officials with the Ministry of Natural Resources say the change in weather is helping firefighting efforts, previously hampered by strong gusts that limited the use of water bombers.

Meanwhile, an evacuation order for the lakeside community of Kamiskotia on the outskirts of Timmins was lifted Friday night as a heavy haze that blanketed the area suddenly cleared.

The ministry says roughly 300 people have been allowed back into their homes, but all other evacuation orders remain in effect and the city is still under a state of emergency.

Some 800 have been forced to flee cottages, campgrounds and camps in rural areas surrounding the city of 43,000 since the fires began on Sunday.

An evacuation order issued earlier this week saw 118 residents from the nearby Mattagami First Nation relocate to Kapuskasing.

Provincial police say they are tracking the blaze and its fumes, ready to clear out any homes in the path of danger.

Officials aren’t the only ones on high alert. Even as conditions seemed to improve Saturday, residents said the situation has them on edge.

“Everybody’s worried because we’ve got our life over there,” said Eric Germain, who watched emergency crews from the fringes of the evacuation zone.

Germain said he and his family were told to leave their camp just west of the city on Sunday. Since then, the flames have also shut down the gold mine where he works.

So far, he said, there hasn’t been any damage to his property, but a friend lost several pieces of heavy equipment to the blaze.

Others seemed hopeful the tide was turning in their favour.

Daniel Geoffroy returned to his home in Kamiskotia late Friday and noticed a significant improvement.

“Tuesday night, the smoke was really, really bad,” he said. “It smelled like if you’re near a dump and they’re doing a burn, it smelled like that. It didn’t smell like a nice bush fire.”

“The skies were a really, really nasty, colour. The sun was like a red ball… It was eerie,” he said. “I think if the wind had kept going… in the same direction, I think we would be having more problems.”

The winds have impeded efforts to douse the fire about 30 kilometres outside Timmins and even caused a new one to flare up Friday, though it has since largely been contained.

A fire ranger dispatched to battle the blaze described 17-hour days grappling with flames “big enough to eat trees in a gulp.”

The ministry estimated the size of the Timmins fire at about 41,210 hectares Saturday, up from 31,660 the day before.

Provincial police said officers were prepared to perform more evacuations “as needed.”

“Our primary focus is on security of persons who have chosen or by accident are ignoring the order to evacuate the area,” said provincial police spokesman Marc Depatie.

Smoke from the Timmins fire was blowing toward Kirkland Lake, about 140 kilometres southeast, even as fire crews there tackled the remnants of a massive wildfire.

But emergency officials in the community of almost 10,000 said things were looking up Saturday, with the blaze reduced to 2,635 hectares from 2,757. It was not under control.

Evacuated residents along Goldthorpe Road were told they could return home as early as 6 p.m. Saturday, while some residents on Goodfish Lake Road could go back home by 10 a.m. Sunday, pending any changes in conditions.

Schools in Kirkland Lake were shut down as a precaution Friday, as was the courthouse.

No relief from extreme burning conditions was expected in the northeast of the province until at least Sunday, the ministry said.

Throughout the province, some 1,300 people, 15 CL-415 water bombers, four Twin Otter medium water bombers and 77 helicopters were on hand Saturday to battle forest fires, the ministry said.