Forest fire season in northeastern Ontario has a busy start

Morning North6:08Forest fire threat in the northeast

It's forest fire season. What can we expect across Northeast? We spoke with a fire research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, with Natural Resources Canada. Bill de Groot told us about the current forest fire situation in the Northeast.

We're just one month into the forest fire season and the fire hazard is high across northeastern Ontario.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has reported 45 fireshave burned 85 hectares of land across our regionso far.

The region covers from Haliburton in the south, to Cochrane in the north.

Many forest fires are tied closely to weather saidShane McCool,an MNRFfire information officer for northeastern Ontario.

He said forest fires can start either by lightning strikes or by human activity, like a tossed cigarette butt.

If investigators determine afirestarted by human activity, then the person responsible could be forced to pay the suppression costs.

That could be a hefty pricetag if the MNRFrequires the use of awater bomber.

Weather plays abig role

Using weather patterns, the MNRF is only able to predict the fire situation about five days in advance, said McCool.

"When we see periods with small amounts of rainfall or no amounts of rainfall, we tend to see dryer conditions," said McCool.

Those are the conditions currently across the northeastern Ontario, and that is why there is ahigh fire hazard in the region. Rain would be helpful to lower that hazard,McCoolsaid.

Periodic rain precipitation every three-to-four days would be ideal to keep forest fires to a minimum, said Bill de Groot, aresearch scientistwith the Canadian Forest Service, a department with NaturalResources Canada.

He works out of the Great Lakes Forestry centre in Sault Ste. Marie, where he studies fire behaviour and how weather and vegetation impactforest fires.

DeGrootblames the region's dry conditionson below-normal snowfall over the pastwinter.

But there is somegood news in the forecast.By the end of the summer as the warming phaseknown aselNinoweakens de Groot saidthere will be areturn toan average fire season.

Vegetation acts as fuel for forest fires

When it comes to forest vegetation like trees, twigs, needles, and moss de Groot said those all actas fuel for forest fires.

For example,"conifer species, likespruce, pine and fir,that have needles;they arehighly flammable fuels [that result in]typicallyhigh flames [with a forest fire]."

He said the broad leaf species have more moisture, so when a fire starts around those it results in asurface fire.

McCool reminds residents that spring is grass fire season,so they should avoidburning brush.

Instead of burning,he suggestscomposting or taking brush and refuse to thelandfill, since grass fires couldget out of hand very quickly, especially if its windy.

Forest fire research

A total of 82 Ontariofire rangersfrom northeastern Ontarioarehelping fight fires in Alberta, but McCool said the MNRFnever leavesOntariowithout resources for its current fire conditions.

De Groot, who has been researching the recent fires in Alberta, said he isunable to sayhow theFort McMurray wildfires started, although there was lightning early on in the season.

The forest fire season in Ontario runs from April 1 to Oct.31.