MNR fire season starts tomorrow

The Ministry Natural Resources’ fire season gets underway tomorrow, but while the situation may be quiet right now, the MNR is preparing for whatever may come its way.
“We’re starting up at the normal time, with no advance start-ups, but certainly we’re all ready to go,” MNR information officer Deb MacLean said this morning.
“Spring preparations for the fire program involve bringing on seasonal staff, and that has begun,” she noted. “And training is going to be in full swing through the month of April.
“That’s both refresher training and ongoing training for people in the fire program.”
MacLean said aircraft resources are scheduled to come on board by mid-April, but are available right now if need be.
“We’re really prepared,” she remarked.
MacLean noted conditions in the region are making for a calm start to the fire season, with a good amount of precipitation in the fall and winter, as well as some snow still on the ground even now.
She added there also were very few reports of over-winter fires in the region.
“Having said that, spring is a tricky time for fire, especially early spring,” she warned. “Once there’s a little bit of warmth, the snow starts to evaporate.
“We may still have snow in mid-April in the standing timber, but a lot of open fields and south-facing slopes and so forth are snow-free and yet there’s no new growth, which tends to slow fire down.
“We’ve got dead grass, dead vegetation, and it doesn’t take very long really—two or three days of drying after the snow has cleared—to make it high risk for fire,” added MacLean.
“There may be a lot of moisture in the ground, but a fire can still burn rapidly across open fields and pose serious threats.
“So although we’re coming into the fire season with a good scenario, there’s always that risk.”
MacLean said the start of the MNR fire season means the Forest Fire Prevention Act is in effect and burning during the day is prohibited.
Anyone planning to do large-scale burning in an unorganized area needs a plan and should contact the local MNR.
This is similar to a prescribed burn, where those planning the fire must set out the parameters of the fire, determine how it’s going to be managed, and have those details approved by the MNR prior to any burning.
Those living in organized areas should check with their local fire department before burning.
The Fort Frances Fire Department follows the Forest Fire Prevention Act guidelines, in that a town resident cannot light a fire more than two hours before sunset and it must be extinguished within two hours after sunrise.
MacLean reiterated the public should follow the fire regulations as a matter of public safety.
Some of the MNR’s difficult and dangerous fires of the spring are human-caused fires in a populated area, which have the potential to threaten property and even lives.
If that’s not enough motivation, offenders also could be charged, fined, and possibly even have to pay the cost of having to put out the blaze they cause.