2012 Ontario Fire Season Report
The 2012 forest fire season recorded a greater number of fires compared to 2011 but with a much smaller area burned. At the official end of the season on October 31, there had been 1,611 wildfires recorded during 2012 affecting a total area of 151,181 hectares. Causes have been identified for 1,550 of these fires; 964 were caused by lightning and 586 were attributed to human causes.
Year # of Fires Hectares
2010 931 14,824
2011 1,330 635,373
2012 1,611 151,181
10-Year Average 1,093 139,310
On the whole, it was a more “normal” fire season despite fire activity running ahead of the ten-year averages for number of fires and hectares burned. However, there were periods of heightened activity and major fires that posed serious risks to several communities.
When fire activity was at its busiest, Ontario supplemented its own firefighting resources with personnel and aircraft from other agencies. Firefighting staff from Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Minnesota, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan and Parks Canada spent 3,671 person days working in the province.
During quieter periods, Ontario assisted neighbouring states and other Canadian provinces. Personnel from Ontario spent 1,086 person days working outside the province. Ontario provided assistance to Alberta, British Columbia, Minnesota and the Northwest Territories.
Operational spending for the 2012 fire season is estimated at approximately $172 million. This compares to approximately $229 million that was spent in 2011. Fire season spending is highly-variable and depends on seasonal activity. Adjusting for inflation, program spending has averaged approximately $137 million annually during the last ten years.
With the 2012 fire season completed, equipment is now being recycled and aircraft are undergoing maintenance. Fire program personnel are moving ahead with required training and upgrading in preparation for the 2013 season.
Northeast Region
This fire season was one of the busiest the Northeast Region has seen in recent years. The number of fires and area burned was not a historical high for the region, however large urban interface fires presented a challenge that had not been encountered in recent time. Ontario FireRangers and forest firefighters from across Canada battled 948 wildfires across the northeast in 2012.
A busy start to the fire season led to evacuations and highway closures in the Timmins and Kirkland Lake areas in May. Fire North Bay 8 caused the evacuation of some residents in Latchford, while Timmins 7 caused evacuations of Westree, Morin Village and the Ostrum Mill. Another two major fires broke out on May 20. Fire Kirkland Lake 8 advanced to within approximately three kilometres of the Town of Kirkland Lake, while fire Timmins 9 stretched between Gogama and the southern outskirts of the City of Timmins.
At 70 kilometres long and 39,524 hectares, Timmins 9 was the largest fire of the season and the largest fire recorded in north-eastern Ontario since at least 1960. Timmins 9 led to evacuations of some areas surrounding Timmins and Gogama.
While Kirkland Lake 8 and Timmins 9 caused anxiety and disruptions for several days both fires were contained before reaching the communities.
FireRangers installed over 600 sprinkler units, known as values protection, on threatened structures to offer protection from approaching wildfires. Fire suppression was also a key this summer in various provincial parks in the region, including Algonquin Provincial Park which saw 40 forest fires within park boundaries.
Pembroke district and a large portion of eastern Ontario declared level two drought conditions this year, requiring FireRangers to assist municipal fire departments and the Canadian Forces Base in Petawawa with wildfires in those areas.
Assistance was also provided outside of the region this season. Northeast staff provided suppression support to a fire in the Wainfleet Bog Conservation Area in the Niagara Peninsula. AFFES also assisted municipal agencies with a fire in the Kemptville area.
Various emergency situations also required the expertise and assistance of AFFES personnel in the northeast, such as aviation services that provided evacuation assistance when floods threatened northern communities during the James Bay coast ice break-up.
Even with the busy fire season, staff from the Northeast Region participated in valuable public outreach activities, from educational school demonstrations, to tours with the Canadian Institute of Forestry Teachers Tour.
Successful use of prescribed burning as a research and land management tool took place throughout the Northeast region during the 2012 season.
Northwest Region
Although the forest fire season starts and ends at the same time each year, from April 1 to October 31, the events and responses are always unique!
Thus it was in the Northwest Region in 2012. The first confirmed fire was found on January 9 on a small island 25 kilometres north of Kenora. This was soon followed by fires in other districts. By the end of April there had been multiple fire starts across the entire region.
May was quieter in the Northwest but things were hot in the Northeast Region so support was sent to the east, and to the Thunder Bay District emergency management team dealing with heavy flooding in Thunder Bay and the surrounding area.
July was a month of note in the Northwest Region. Multiple fire starts had occurred by the end of June and the July long weekend saw over fifteen thousand lightning strikes and 10 new forest fires reported.
By mid-July the Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services program had responded to 183 fires in Ontario, including 113 fires in the Northwest Region. Many of those fires were in northern districts and smoky conditions were an issue.
Firefighters from New Brunswick, Manitoba and Minnesota as well as waterbombers from Quebec and Newfoundland were in the region assisting in the fire management efforts.
Near the end of July, the Sandy Lake First Nation declared an emergency due to smoky conditions and a partial evacuation of the community commenced. A total of 637 community members were evacuated to either Thunder Bay or Fort Frances.
The August and September fire activities proved challenging with high winds and warmer than average temperatures. Multiple fire starts occurred well into September.
On the other hand, many of the fires in the region were monitored this season as they burned to natural boundaries after being identified as good candidate fires to renew island and forest ecosystems. Forest fires play an essential role in the health and sustainability of ecosystems in protected areas. Home to a variety birds and animals, these habitats and ecosystems benefit when renewed by fire.
Prescribed burns were also conducted in the region with great success.
October rolled into the region with quite the winter show bringing cold, wet and snowy weather and an end to forest fire hazards by the first week of October. A fitting closure to a season that began in the early winter months of the year!
