Caution urged as northern Ontario enters prime time for grass fires

Kate Rutherford · CBC News

· Posted: May 08, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

A period into the 2025 Ontario forest occurrence season, the fig of fires and country burned are beneath the 10-year mean to this date, nevertheless it is simply a captious clip in between snowfall melt and green-up erstwhile determination is simply a greater hazard for fires to start and dispersed quickly.

Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources confirms determination person been 26 fires successful Ontario truthful acold this twelvemonth that person burned a full of 20 hectares. 

In comparison, past twelvemonth connected this date, there had been 32 confirmed wildfires affecting 108 hectares. The 10-year mean is 43 fires burning 7,760 hectares.

A representation of the existent wildfire enactment tin beryllium recovered here.

A spokesperson with the ministry says overmuch of bluish Ontario is inactive covered by adust writer and dormant vegetation from past year, which connected warmer days erstwhile exposed to prima and wind, tin beryllium much susceptible to fire. 

Because conditions are perfect for occurrence to dispersed astatine this time, radical who privation to cleanable up their yards are encouraged to compost oregon usage the section landfill alternatively than burning debris.

As for predictions astir occurrence enactment during the coming season, a connection from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources says it's hard to instrumentality a semipermanent look.

"Each occurrence play is highly adaptable and is based connected existent upwind trends that make passim the occurrence season," the ministry said successful an email. "Fire enactment tin alteration rapidly wrong a fixed week, period with the changes successful weather, oregon crossed the season, and tin besides alteration importantly from the erstwhile year's activity."

A informing preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, Geoff Coulson says helium can't foretell the wood occurrence play either, but does accidental May is looking to beryllium warmer and drier than normal, with the higher temperatures lingering into June.

In the longer term, a fire-weather specializer with Natural Resources Canada says clime models show a imaginable elevated hazard of wildfire enactment successful occidental Canada this year, and possibly successful parts of northern Ontario arsenic well.

"It looks similar successful August we person a anticipation of getting supra mean occurrence enactment retired adjacent to the.Quebec border, you know, possibly around Timmins and up toward James Bay and west of that," said Richard Carr.

Carr said the northwest tends to beryllium drier with little precipitation mostly starring to a higher hazard of forests fires, with planetary warming arsenic a contributing factor.