Restricted fire zone called

As of 12:01 a.m. Friday most of Northwestern Ontario will be a restricted fire zone until further notice from the Ministry of Natural Resources.

That means all burning permits are suspended and open fires are banned in the west fire region, which includes the area south of Armstrong along the CN tracks up to just north of Pickle Lake and west to the Manitoba border.

"Because of the hot, dry conditions we’re having, the fire hazard is extremely high for this time of the year and what this will do is at least cut down on the number of human caused fires," said fire operations supervisor Jack Welch.

"Then we won’t have our resources stretched as thin because we could still get lightning fires. Due to the strange spring we’ve had, we had a couple of lightning fires already this year; that’s very unusual."

The ministry said the long-term weather forecast isn’t predicting a lot of precipitation and Welch noted it’s extremely serious the area hasn’t had much moisture yet this year, leaving much of the foliage ungreen.

"Right now they’re tinder and anything will light," he said.

This is one of the earliest calls for a restricted fire zone; the last earliest restriction call was made in May of 2007.

"It’s not something we take lightly," Welch said. "A lot of decisions go into all aspects of it before we do implement a restricted fire zone. It’s not something we do on a whim … it could buy us some time until we get some precipitation."

The region has seen more than 131 forest fires already in 2010 with close to 500 hectares of forest burnt.

Welch said they already have all their fire season staff hired and out working on fires, which is unusual for April.

"If it continues for a lot longer, the folks are going to get tired and it’s a long season we have to go through here," he said.

Provincial parks are excluded from the restricted fire zone and some campground with pre-approved fire pits may allow campfires and portable gas stoves can still be used for cooking and warmth.

Conservation officers and MNR staff will be strictly enforcing the ban and people violating the regulations of the restricted fire zone could see fines of up to $1,000.