Province of Ontario bolsters staff in preparation for 2025 wildland fire season

The Province of Ontario says its prepared for the fast-approaching 2025 wildland fire season.

The new season starts on April 1, and preparations have included filling more than 100 new, permanent positions to help support forest fire fighting operations, said Chris Marchand, fire information officer with Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES).

"At the present time, the Northwest Fire Regions Fire Management headquarters, which are located all around the northwest, are really focusing on the seasonal hiring and getting staff and equipment ready to respond to fire calls this season," he said.

Exactly how busy this season will be remains unknown, Marchand said, as its very difficult to predict how intense a fire season will be.

"We don't really look in terms of months ahead, we look more toward a five-to-10 day window, just because we've seen that each fire season is still highly variable and based on the actual weather trends that are developing throughout it," he said. "Fire activity can change within the day, week, month, and also vary significantly from previous years."

Marchand said the previous winter saw "somewhat normal" snowfall patterns across Ontario.

"Depending on how it melts, the speed at which that melt occurs, snowfall can play a role in recharging a lack of moisture in the soil that may be lingering over the winter from the previous fall," he said. "Once the area becomes snow free in the spring, those fine fuels such as dead grass and leaves begin to dry out quite quickly, and become receptive to fire."

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

"Ontario's 2024 wildland fire season began with a wet spring and a wet early summer across the province," he said. "The most active periods for wildland fire activity occurred in late August and into the fall, as we started to see some warmer and drier conditions throughout the province."

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

"We're lucky enough here in Kenora that we have a local MNR office," said Gord Howard, Kenora's fire chief and director of emergency services. "They're the experts on the wildland fire events that we have around the Kenora district."

"We work with them on training programs," he said. "We've been talking about different programs as far as like fire smart education programs."

"But a big part of it, obviously, from the city perspective, is our response. So we have an agreement with them ... that we respond to certain areas and assist them when needed."

"If we have something while on fire within the city we need help for, the MNR would come in and assist us."

In a media release, the Province of Ontario said it partnered with the federal government last year to invest $64 million in the provincial wildland fire program.

"This investment has allowed Ontario to enhance its firefighting capacity for the 2025 fire season and includes funding for forest fire suppression equipment and technology, such as fuel systems, trucks and emergency management software," the release states.