In an unexpected turn of events, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has decided to lift its fire restrictions across Ontario on Tuesday.
“We have seen some meaningful rainfall in the region and we have seen a lot of really positive turnover in the fires that we have on the landscape," said fire information officer Chris Marchand "We've seen a high number of fires being called out, as well as a high number of turnovers to 'being held’ and ‘under control’.”
As a result, MNRF announced Tuesday it would lift the Restriction Fire Zones as of 4 p.m. Tuesday.
However, Marchand advises that people be mindful of the area’s wildfire hazard levels before igniting their campfires. These hazard levels may vary from one area to the other.
Marchand suggests the public check their area’s hazard level by going to Ontario.ca/forestfire for up-to-date information.
“Certainly, this does not mean that we should let our guard down when it comes to preventing human cause fires, which really can account for a large number of our workload,” Marchand said.
There are areas within Northern Ontario that are still fairly dry and fire dangers can change rapidly as thunderstorms may occur.
When asked if the Restricted Fire Zone could return, Marchand said it is certainly a possibility as we get deeper into the summer.
“We have seen significant lightning over the past week. We do have some rain looking to come into the region throughout this week, and as conditions dry out, we could see holdover lightning fires emerging from the ground as conditions dry out. The best case scenario is we have some nice, even widely distributed rainfall that keeps those conditions in the ground, which are less receptive to lightning fires,” said Marchand.
Currently, there are 54 active fires in the region, many of which are in remote areas of the far north.
“There are just eight that are currently classified as not under control and 39 of these fires are just simply being monitored in the far north. They're not in proximity to values that are under threat. So we're keeping an eye on them and actioning the ones that are closer to people, property, and critical infrastructure,” explained Marchand.
In terms of best practices for ensuring campfire safety, Marchand suggests that people keep their fires at one meter in size and sheltered from the wind, as well as build their fires on soil or bare rock. Moreover, fire should be kept fairly distant from combustible materials.
