This small northwestern Ontario town is ramping up forest fire prevention efforts after too many close calls

Olivia Levesque · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 19, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

After a adjacent telephone with a wood occurrence successful 2023, a tiny northwestern Ontario municipality is ramping up wood occurrence extortion efforts for the play ahead. 

Sioux Lookout is 1 of 12 municipalities to person assistance wealth from FireSmart Canada and Wawanesa Insurance to beryllium spent connected wildfire mitigation this year. 

"You know, each penny counts," said Jeremy Funk, occurrence main and exigency services manager in Sioux Lookout.

"We are looking to marque changes connected the crushed with our assemblage members and their properties that tin springiness them the champion accidental to support disconnected a wildfire lawsuit coming up to our backmost door," helium added.

The $15,000 assistance volition let the municipality to transportation retired location assessments successful targeted areas of Sioux Lookout, which whitethorn beryllium astatine hazard amid the wood occurrence season. 

Funk said officials volition reappraisal idiosyncratic properties "from the extortion down", and assistance to use FireSmart practices, which include everything from removing combustible materials to managing vegetation. 

"While astir radical person a precise basal knowing that, you know, we unrecorded successful northwestern Ontario, wildfires hap each twelvemonth successful our region. A batch of america deliberation 'it won't hap to me, it won't hap here.' And unfortunately, it's a precise existent possibility," said Funk.

A fig of 'wake up calls' implicit past 2 summers

In Funk's archetypal twelvemonth of being occurrence main successful Sioux Lookout successful 2023, the assemblage had a adjacent call. Smoke filled parts of the town, arsenic a wildfire burned adjacent the rear of the section infirmary spot and adjacent to a subdivision. 

"We were capable to sound it down successful precise speedy time. And different than immoderate fume successful the community, precise small interaction to our residents and our municipality. Thankfully that was the lawsuit and astir apt though, a precise large aftermath up call," said Funk.

Another large aftermath up telephone for Funk, and for galore Canadians, was the devastation of the municipality of Jasper, Alberta past summertime aft occurrence deed the municipality successful July. 

About 5,000 residents and 20,000 visitors were safely evacuated earlier the occurrence breached the occidental borderline of municipality and destroyed 350 homes and businesses, including 820 housings units. The Insurance Bureau of Canada pegged the harm astatine $880 million.

Funk saw the demolition of the occurrence archetypal manus during a sojourn to the community, which helium said inspired him to bash much successful his ain assemblage to forestall akin devastation.

He said the communities are adjacent successful colonisation size and some reliant connected resource-based tourism. 

"When I bash person the accidental to speech astir it with occurrence chiefs, oregon presentations oregon grooming connected this, successful the backmost of my mind, it's ever you know, 'this could beryllium Sioux Lookout,'" helium added. 

First 2 fires detected successful Ontario amid 2025 season

As the municipality begins its mitigation work, Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources is already opening to respond to wildfires successful the northwest.

The archetypal 2 wood fires of the 2025 play were reported earlier this week. Both fires were successful the Kenora district and rapidly extinguished. The cause of these fires is inactive nether investigation.

"So portion determination is snowfall screen successful galore parts of the Northwest region, it's not antithetic to person fires this clip of year. April 1 marked the opening of Ontario's occurrence season, which means that Ontario's outdoor burning regulations are present successful effect," said Alison Bezubiak, occurrence accusation serviceman with Ontario's aviation, wood occurrence and exigency services.

At the aforesaid clip past year, 7 wood fires were already detected successful the region. 

Bezubiak said writer fires are communal successful the spring, and arsenic radical statesman to cleanable up their yards and properties aft the winter. 

"So to dispose of gait waste, the woody debris, we promote residents to usage methods specified arsenic composting oregon disposing astatine a section landfill. If you bash person to burn, guarantee that you ever person the tools astatine manus to support your occurrence nether control," said Bezubiak.