The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry had its’ work cut out for it this summer with forest fires.
Spokesperson Chris Marchand notes in northern Ontario they battled about 300, fewer than half from last year, but more ground was burned.
“In the end, despite a lower fire count, wild land fires actually affected a little more of the land base than they did in the previous year, just in less visible and more remote places.”
The MNR spokesperson adds the forest fire season ends at the end of October, so there’s still a chance of more sparking.
“Those numbers amount to less than about half of last year’s fire count, with that said, it was still a fairly busy year in many respects, here in the northwest we had a handful of very aggressive fires.”
The MNR points out those fires put communities at risk in the Red Lake and Sioux Lookout districts, forcing some evacuations.
“It can be accounted for by 6 fires, that began between May 29th and June 30th. This is the time when dry grasses and other fine fuels can really produce intense fire behaviour.”
The MNR adds there have been 529 forest fires provincially this summer.
