HEADLINE: Fire Rangers battled big blazes in 2017
By Wild Northerner staff
The staff with the MNRF in Ontario were kept busy in 2017, fighting forest fires in the province and across the country. Here is a rundown on fire season across the province and the northern Ontario region.
Provincial Overview
The 2017 forest fire season started with some human-caused fires that required aggressive ground and air attack. Lightning-caused fires followed in the summer in both remote and urban locations.
Lightning-caused fires dominated the fire scene in the Far North through late July, August and September. The southern areas of the fire region also responded to fires that threatened to disrupt people and properties.
Provincially, there were 776 fires recorded with 111,955 hectares burned, compared to last season which saw 641 fires and 83,010 hectares burned.
The ten year average is 791 fires and 104,318 hectares burned.
The 2017 statistics are not considered complete until all wildfire reports are finalized and the data is checked and verified. The data includes fires reported throughout the year, not just during the official fire season of April 1 to October 31. It does not include prescribed burns, or fires occurring outside of the fire region.
Regional Overview
Fire Management Centres in Dryden and Sudbury respond to wildland fires for the Northwest and Northeast Regions (including parts of Southern Region). Here is an overview of the fires:
- Northeast Region had 122 fires burning a total of 48,938 hectares.
- Northwest Region recorded 654 fires consuming 63,017 hectares.
This season, 207 of the 776 fires were caused by people with about 84.2 hectares of land burned as a result.
There were 543 lightning-caused fires and 104,275 hectares consumed.
Throughout the fire season, there were a total of 26 fires burning about 7,596 hectares for which the cause of fire was not determined. This can occur when there is not enough evidence to support the determination of a fire cause.
Financial Costs
Year-to-year expenses vary considerably depending on the number of fires and their severity in a season and can range from $75 – 231 million or more for busier fire seasons. While the final costs for the Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services program for 2017 are still to be finalized, the initial estimates as of Oct. 31 are $118.2 million.
This includes money directly related to fire suppression (crews, aircraft) and the balance is budgeted through the year as our preparedness expenses.
The province expects to recover just under $2 million in costs from resource sharing of fire management personnel, aircraft and equipment to assist other provinces and the U.S.
Regional Highlights
There were three fires in the Nipigon district that impacted the communities of Eabametoong, Neskantaga and Nibinamik. Nipigon 9 (13553.3ha), Nipigon 29 (6753.2ha), and Nipigon 39 (265.2ha) received modified responses including various forms of suppression activities to limit their expansion and protect structures in the area. All three of these fires were called out in late September.
Nipigon District Fire Number 99 was a lightning-caused fire that started on August 12 northeast of Nipigon in the Kama Hill area that grew to 562 hectares. An Incident Management Team was established on the fire, working out of Nipigon and managed the fire until August 31. The fire was called out on Sept. 19.
There was a complex of fires near the communities of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug and Wapekeka. These fires were ignited by a dry lightning storm that occurred on Aug. 11. Sioux Lookout fire numbers 108 to113 were actioned by crews under the supervision of an onsite Incident Management Team until they were contained and posed no further threat to the communities.
Red Lake 66 occurred within the community of Sandy Lake. Red Lake 66 directly threatened bulk fuel storage and residential values within the community, but they were not damaged as a result of an aggressive initial attack using a Belly Tanker helicopter, air tankers from both Ontario and Manitoba and MNRF Type 1 FireRanger crews.
Due to the fact that the Northeast saw fewer fires than the Northwest this season, bases with less fire activity were able to provide support where it was needed in Ontario, and even out of province when requested.
With the Wildland Fire Management Strategy in place, many fires in the Far North were monitored while being left to burn as natural fires which allowed for the ecological benefits of fire to occur. Fires in the Far North dominated fire activity for the Northeast region.
Out of Province Deployments/Imports
During the second week of July, British Columbia declared a state of emergency as a result of a high number of forest fires within its provincial borders. Ontario provided both equipment and human resources to help our western neighbours.
A warm, dry weather system combined with frequent lightning events triggered several new starts in Ontario’s northwest in late July and throughout August. This forced a scale back of deployment of staff to other provinces and to dedicate resources here at home at the time.
In late August, when the forest fire situation eased, the provincial resource deployments increased to help British Columbia.
In total, 1,040 AFFES staff members were deployed out of province, some of these individuals went out of province more than once.
Of these, 997 people went to British Columbia, eight were sent out of province to assist the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, 21 were deployed to Manitoba and 14 people travelled to Alberta to assist Parks Canada.
Ontario deployed 4 CL415 waterbombers, two bird dog aircrafts as well as pilots and air attack officers to assist Montana in the United States. And two CL415 tankers and a birddog were also sent to assist Manitoba.
Firefighting equipment was also sent out of province to assist firefighting agencies in British Columbia and Manitoba. In total this season: 10,000 lengths of hose, 203 pumps and two mobile values protection trailers were sent to British Columbia; and 100 Sprinkler Kits were sent to Manitoba.
Prescribed Burning
AFFES promotes the use of fire through prescribed burning by coordinating planning and burning activities to ensure that all burns are conducted safely and effectively. This includes approving prescribed burn plans on Crown lands and conducting burns.
Fire dependent ecosystems are maintained in Ontario by the use of prescribed burning. AFFES supports Sustainable Forest License holders, Ontario Parks and other interested parties to use prescribed burning.
In 2017, there were 32 prescribed burns planned, of which eight of the burns occurred, burning 484 hectares. The range of objectives for these burns included: oak savannah and tallgrass prairie restoration/maintenance, invasive species control, habitat maintenance, hazard reduction and forest ecological renewal. Additional benefits, including staff training and organizational capacity building, also resulted from the planning and execution of the prescribed burns in the province this year.
Mitigation
This year, the Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services program issued three FireSmart Community Grants.
Under the FireSmart Canada Community Recognition Program, the Elliot Lake communities of Dunlop Shores and Quirke & Popeye Lakes hosted their second FireSmart Canada event and received a National Wildfire Preparedness Day Grant as well. They gathered to discuss how they can continue to further implement strategies to reduce the risk of forest fires spreading to their properties, homes and cottages.
One Ontario community also completed their Community Wildfire Protection Plan under the grant program, which was completed by a contractor that was trained under our FireSmart Communities Workshop.
Fire Rangers battled big blazes in 2017
By Wild Northerner staff
The staff with the MNRF in Ontario were kept busy in 2017, fighting forest fires in the province and across the country. Here is a rundown on fire season across the province and the northern Ontario region.
Provincial Overview
The 2017 forest fire season started with some human-caused fires that required aggressive ground and air attack. Lightning-caused fires followed in the summer in both remote and urban locations.
Lightning-caused fires dominated the fire scene in the Far North through late July, August and September. The southern areas of the fire region also responded to fires that threatened to disrupt people and properties.
Provincially, there were 776 fires recorded with 111,955 hectares burned, compared to last season which saw 641 fires and 83,010 hectares burned.
The ten year average is 791 fires and 104,318 hectares burned.
The 2017 statistics are not considered complete until all wildfire reports are finalized and the data is checked and verified. The data includes fires reported throughout the year, not just during the official fire season of April 1 to October 31. It does not include prescribed burns, or fires occurring outside of the fire region.
Regional Overview
Fire Management Centres in Dryden and Sudbury respond to wildland fires for the Northwest and Northeast Regions (including parts of Southern Region). Here is an overview of the fires:
- Northeast Region had 122 fires burning a total of 48,938 hectares.
- Northwest Region recorded 654 fires consuming 63,017 hectares.
This season, 207 of the 776 fires were caused by people with about 84.2 hectares of land burned as a result.
There were 543 lightning-caused fires and 104,275 hectares consumed.
Throughout the fire season, there were a total of 26 fires burning about 7,596 hectares for which the cause of fire was not determined. This can occur when there is not enough evidence to support the determination of a fire cause.
Financial Costs