the MNRF
Ontario firefighting resources are being scaled back as the fall season progresses and fire activity slows.
FireRanger crew resources now are at about 20 percent of the peak summer levels while the aerial detection program is coming to an end for the season.
Air attack birddog aircraft will remain on through to mid-September, when an assessment of the fire hazard will determine if they stay longer.
Some CL-415 heavy waterbombers will remain on into October while the rest will begin fall and winter maintenance schedules.
These resource levels are adequate for the forest fire situation in Ontario.
Meanwhile, all fire personnel who had been on assignment in western and northern Canada have returned to Ontario.
From June through to September, a total of 1,345 personnel provided support for a total of 22,309 person days.
These totals represent a rotation of personnel deployments, as many people went out on more than one assignment over the summer.
The jurisdictions they provided support to included Alberta, Parks Canada (Banff/Lake Louise), B.C., and the Northwest Territories.
These personnel included FireRangers, incident management team members, and overhead staff, as well as air attack officers and CL-415 pilots.
CL-415 and air attack packages also were deployed to Saskatchewan in May and twice to the Northwest Territories in August.
Ontario continues to support B.C. with equipment, including power pumps, portable relay tanks, and several thousand lengths of fire hose.
Two mobile values protection units also were deployed to B.C. from July to September.
There are no active fires in the Northwest Region and the fire hazard remains “low.”
Since April 1, the region has seen 125 fires, which charred 1,217 hectares.
