P.E.I. forest fire index too blunt an instrument, says property owner

An eastern P.E.I. man wants to see the province split up into more than three forest fire index zones.

During forest fire season the province sets a rating daily for each zone, from low to extreme, and those ratings affect the validity of burning permits.

Thomas Schultz's Wood Islands property is in the central-southeastern zone. That one zone covers most of the province, from Summerside to Murray Harbour and up to Cardigan.

Schultz said back in April, for example, Wood Islands had received two evenings of heavy showers but burning was still banned because it was dry in other parts of the zone. 

"The whole zone had some very wet places and some very dry places and the level was still at medium," he said.

"That was really frustrating. Here we are, practically standing in water, and they say, oh no, the forest fire index is medium."

System has to be manageable

Provincial field services manager Mike Montigny said he understands the frustration, but that it's all about balancing forecasting that's as accurate as possible on a scale that's manageable.

"Right now on Prince Edward Island we have three zones. Would it make sense to have seven or 10? It would be really tricky and difficult to do that," said Montigny.

"I'm not saying he's wrong. For sure there's little climatic variables and little zones, but we have to manage it at a landscape-type scale."

The fire index ratings are based on data collected from weather stations across the province.They are set using national criteria that all provinces follow.

On Thursday, the rating for all three areas was very high.

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