Rain still desperately needed as firefighters battle blazes across the region

Northern Ontario’s forest fire situation is still deeply dependent on what the weather brings.

With 109 fires burning in this region, fire information officer Annemarie Piscopo said a few solid days of rain is needed.

“It would be better to have a week with a little bit of rain on each of those days rather than having one day of torrential downpour because the rain just runs off,” Piscopo said. “We really do need rain for relief.”

However, the minimal rainfall the region has recently seen has allowed Ministry of Natural Resources fire crews to get a handle on the fires.

With no precipitation, there were 35 new fires over the August long weekend. But with a little rain earlier in the week, there have since been only eight new fires.

So far this season, there have been 493 forest fires in Ontario. Piscopo said 384 have been extinguished.

“We’re definitely making good progress, but there is still a lot of work to be done,” she said.

The ministry’s resources are fully committed to tackling the fire situation right now. There are 2,000 Ontario firefighters working right now – most in the Northwest region – and there are another 672 firefighters and overhead personnel from outside of the province who have joined the fight.

The MNR’s priority is the safety of the people, Piscopo said.

“In terms of the safety of the firefighters, management is keeping a close eye on the 14-day maximum timeline to be on a fire,” she said. “This allows crews to remain fresh and alert and to be well rested.”