Province of Ontario bolsters firefighter ranks in advance of 2025 wildland fire season

Kris Ketonen · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 28, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

The state of Ontario is boosting its wood firefighter ranks arsenic the 2025 wildland occurrence play approaches.

The caller play starts connected April 1, and preparations person included filling much than 100 new, imperishable firefighter positions, said Chris Marchand, occurrence accusation bureau with Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES).

"At the contiguous time, the Northwest Fire Regions Fire Management headquarters, which are located each astir the northwest, are truly focusing connected the seasonal hiring and getting unit and instrumentality acceptable to respond to occurrence calls this season," helium said.

Exactly however engaged this play volition beryllium remains unknown, Marchand said, arsenic its precise hard to foretell however aggravated a occurrence play volition be.

"We don't truly look successful presumption of months ahead, we look much toward a five-to-10 time window, conscionable due to the fact that we've seen that each occurrence play is inactive highly variable and based connected the existent upwind trends that are processing passim it," helium said. "Fire enactment tin change within the day, week, month, and besides alteration importantly from erstwhile years."

Marchand said the erstwhile wintertime saw "somewhat normal" snowfall patterns crossed Ontario.

"Depending connected however it melts, the velocity astatine which that melt occurs, snowfall tin play a relation in recharging a deficiency of moisture successful the ungraded that whitethorn beryllium lingering implicit the wintertime from the erstwhile fall," helium said. "Once the country becomes snowfall escaped successful the spring, those good fuels specified arsenic dormant writer and leaves statesman to adust retired rather quickly, and go receptive to fire."

Marchand noted, however, that the 2024 occurrence play was slower than usual — 480 fires were reported, down from the 10-year, seasonal mean of 700 fires.

"Ontario's 2024 wildland occurrence play began with a bedewed outpouring and a bedewed aboriginal summertime crossed the province," helium said. "The astir progressive periods for wildland occurrence activity occurred successful precocious August and into the fall, arsenic we started to spot immoderate warmer and drier conditions passim the province."

Municipalities successful the northwest are preparing for April 1, too.

"We're fortunate capable present successful Kenora that we person a section MNR office," said Gord Howard, Kenora's fire main and manager of exigency services. "They're the experts connected the wildland occurrence events that we person astir the Kenora district."

"We enactment with them connected grooming programs," helium said. "We've been talking astir antithetic programs arsenic acold arsenic similar occurrence astute acquisition programs."

"But a large portion of it, obviously, from the metropolis perspective, is our response. So we person an statement with them ... that we respond to definite areas and assistance them erstwhile needed."

"If we person thing portion connected occurrence wrong the metropolis we request assistance for, the MNR would travel successful and assistance us."

In a media release, the Province of Ontario said it partnered with the national authorities past twelvemonth to put $64 cardinal successful the provincial wildland occurrence program.

"This concern has allowed Ontario to heighten its firefighting capableness for the 2025 occurrence play and includes backing for wood occurrence suppression instrumentality and technology, specified arsenic substance systems, trucks and exigency absorption software," the merchandise states.