Duane Hicks
FORT FRANCES—With the dry conditions not expected to improve in the near future, district residents are being asked to hold off on any open-air burning for a while yet.
“The MNR is asking us to maintain the burning ban,” Fort Frances Fire Chief Gerry Armstrong, who also is the district fire protection co-ordinator, said Wednesday.
“They’re asking us to do that based on the fact there’s minimal moisture predicted here in the next couple days, and apparently into the weekend.
“It’s very low humidity, and warming up a bit,” he added.
“It really becomes a decision of the municipalities themselves with the burning ban,” Chief Armstrong explained.
“If some of them choose to take the risk, it becomes their decision, within the municipality, but certainly, at least from our end here, we certainly are going to take the advice of the experts in the business—the MNR—and maintain it for the time being,” he stressed.
“We’re asking folks to continue with no open-air burning,” echoed local MNR forest fire management supervisor Harrold Boven., adding the fire hazard is “high to extreme” in this area.
“As we’re looking at going into the weekend, it’s setting itself up for some extreme burning weather,” he warned. “That’s one of the reasons we’re recommending to the First Nations’ communities and to the municipalities to allow no open-air burning.
“In all likelihood, we’ll be
reassessing further restrictions probably early next week.”
Boven noted it appears there’s no rain in the forecast for the next 10 days, meaning the situation probably won’t improve anytime soon.
“The fires we’ve been having over the last week have been showing us rapid rates of spread in the grass fuels, and it’s starting to go into standing timber,” he remarked.
“It’s slowing down for now, but as we get into the weekend, that’s going to become a concern.
“We’re concerned with the wind and humidities as we go into the weekend.”
Because of cool nights and lack of rain, area residents are “not seeing the ‘green up’ as quick as what we normally would,” added Boven.
“It’s slow.”
With the drier weather, restrictions also have been put in place for forest industry and other industrial users, such as CN and Hydro One.
“Everybody needs to be vigilant,” Boven stressed. “They need to take extra precautions due to the fact it is so dry.”
Boven did note the ice on lakes is disappearing rapidly, making it easier for waterbombers to scoop up water to fight fires.
But with the spread rate of fires in grass fuels being so high (1.5-2 km/h), he said waterbombers may not be able to react quickly enough.
In related news, local MNR crews responded to two fires on Tuesday—one the result of a beaver cutting a tree down over a powerline in Miscampbell and another in Dance Township.
The latter is under investigation given it proximity to structures.
Boven noted residents have to be wary of using wood stoves or outdoor wood furnaces at this time of year.
“It’s cool at night, they fire them up to provide heat, but they’re smouldering during the day and there’s creosote build-up,” he explained, adding that under the Forest Fire Prevention Act, the area underneath and surrounding the stove must be free of flammable debris.
“It does become a concern. Over the last 10 years, we’ve probably had five outdoor wood stove fires we’re aware of,” Boven said.
Here in Fort Frances District, Boven said close to 70 percent of firefighters are now on staff—enough to deploy six or seven four-person FireRanger crews.
More are expected to come aboard Monday, with a full complement on staff by the end of April.
The local MNR also is being assisted by enforcement officers to investigate fires.
(Fort Frances Daily Bulletin)
