THUNDER BAY – A relatively quiet forest fire season in Northern Ontario is allowing the province to allocate more firefighters for emergency assistance to British Columbia.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has approved the dispatching of an additional 100 personnel to B.C. fire lines. They will be transported this week.
More than 250 Ontario firefighters and support staff were flown west about a week ago. The ministry has also loaned BC pumping kits, hose and other firefighting apparatus.
Crews that are shared with other provinces typically remain on loan for a maximum of 19 days before returning to their home base in Ontario.
The ministry says it retains enough resources to deal with the current forest fire situation in Ontario.
Currently the fire hazard in southerly parts of the Northwest Region is moderate, but in northerly areas the hazard ranges from high to extreme.
