File photo courtesy Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services
What a difference a year makes!
After a record breaking forest fire season in the northwest in 2021, things sure did quiet down this past season.
There were only 82 fires consuming 114.3 hectares of land.
That’s compared to 1,198 fires and 784,465 hectares of land torched in the previous season.
Information Officer Chris Marchand notes human caused fires did outnumber those caused by lightning.
The fire season wrapped up October 31.
Marchand stresses despite the low numbers crews were kept busy.
“We had firerangers making sand bags for the residents affected by local flooding. We also had some firerangers go to the Northeast for a brief fire escalation there in May. We sent over 90 personnel to Ottawa to support storm clean up operations.”
Marchand adds, “We had some folks in the Yukon territory as well as Manitoba and some resources in Alberta as well. Just very recently we had firerangers in Prince Edward Island helping with storm clean up there.”
He notes the aid provided this year is a great example of flexible inter-agency cooperation throughout Canada and other jurisdictions.
Here is the breakdown of forest fires in our region this season:
Dryden – 5 fires – 1.0 hectare total – largest fire was 0.6 hectares – an island fire at Nora Lake
Fort Frances – 12 fires – 2.1 hectares – largest – 1.0 ha at Khashahpiwi Lake in Quetico Park
Kenora – 14 fires – 11.2 ha – largest – 5 ha near Work Lake
Nipigon – 24 fires – 17.8 ha – largest – 4 ha west of Ogoki Lake
Red Lake – 9 fires – 5.9 ha – largest – 5 ha north of Sandy Lake
Sioux Lookout – 5 fires – 74.2 ha – largest – 72.4 ha east of Weagamow Lake
Thunder Bay – 13 fires – 2.1 ha – largest – 0.5 ha near Pearl Lake
—With files from Mike Ebbeling
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