Smoke will soon rise over a project months in the making.

With the Restricted Fire Zone across Northwestern Ontario officially lifted as of 12:01 a.m., the Melgund Recreation, Arts and Culture (MRAC) team and Art Borups Corners Society are moving into the most exciting phase of this year’s wild clay and pottery collaboration. After a dry summer under necessary outdoor burning bans, the green light has arrived—and with it, the chance to pit fire the local Melgund clay we have been harvesting and refining since spring.

Building a pottery practice from the ground up takes time, sweat, and patience. Over the warmer months, our teams learned to harvest raw earth, slaked it down in water, strained out organic debris, and slowly dried the slip to form workable clay body tests. Every step taught us something new about the soil beneath our feet. But as test tiles filled our drying racks, the fire ban kept our grand experiment on hold.

Now, the wait is over, and we can finally test our wild clays with pit firing—something we’ve waited patiently for over the last few months.

While an electric kiln offers steady, predictable heat, a traditional pit fire introduces raw, atmospheric elements. Wood, shifting wind, dense smoke, and falling ash will create micro-climates inside the pit, subjecting each clay sample to unique conditions. This firing will answer our biggest questions: How do the natural minerals in Melgund clay react to open flame? What rich, earthy tones will the smoke paint onto the surfaces? And most importantly, will the tiles withstand the thermal shock?

As we prepare the pit, fire safety remains most important. The Ministry of Natural Resources reminds everyone that lifting regional restrictions does not mean dropping precautions. We will adhere strictly to provincial burning guidelines to ensure our test is as safe as it is productive.

Months of collecting, processing, and waiting all lead to this next step. We are ready to put our wild clay back into the earth, light the fire, and see what the elements create.