Some local MNR fire crews, who had been battling forest fires in British Columbia since late June, have returned home, with the rest expected back soon.
Local MNR fire operations supervisor Marnie Brown said a group of 12 returned Sunday.
“We still have eight staff out there. We expect them home any day now,” she noted Friday.
Five of the staff were stationed on the B.C.-Yukon border while the others were battling blazes in and around Houston, B.C.
“It sounds like the situation has improved somewhat compared to a couple weeks ago,” Brown said, though adding it’s too early to say if local firefighters will need to return to the province.
“We currently have no requests in place for additional resources to be sent out there, but that may change in the future. It’s difficult to say at this time,” she noted.
Locally, the situation is quite different.
“It’s been, overall, a very quiet fire season,” Brown said.
Since April 1, there have been only 17 fires in the Fort Frances District, including one lightning fire Thursday that was declared out as of Friday morning.
Brown said the MNR also is watching a small fire in Quetico Provincial Park.
“We haven’t taken suppression action on it. We’re allowing that fire to burn, however, we are monitoring it to make sure it still falls within the parameters of prescribed natural fire,” she remarked.
Brown said the ministry is using the weather forecast to determine whether crews need to suppress the fire.
“If we’re going into a long-term drying trend, we may go in and suppress it,” she noted.
The fire is less than 0.1 hectares in size, and is located on an island.
(Fort Frances Daily Bulletin)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
