More fire personnel off to help out in BC

MNR News Release

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With the forest fire hazard remaining low across the province as the result of continued cold, wet weather, Ontario dispatched an additional 232 fire personnel to British Columbia on August 1 including FireRangers, support staff and an Incident Management Team. They joined other Ontario resources that had gone out earlier in July.

With almost 570 personnel from Ontario now supporting the firefighting effort in British Columbia it marks the highest number of resources at one time that Ontario has provided to that province.

Video of Ontario Fire personnel departing from the Sudbury Regional Forest Fire Management Centre is available by following this link.

Ontario has also provided support to British Columbia with fire suppression equipment including 150 pump units and three thousand lengths of fire hose. More equipment has been requested and an additional 150 pump units and four thousand lengths of hose are scheduled to arrive in British Columbia on August 3. A pump unit includes a portable power pump, a tool box, an intake suction hose and a 22.8 litre fuel tank. Lithium batteries have also been shipped to help support Ontario handheld radio’s in use on the fireline.

An order of 72 portable water reservoirs known as port-a-tanks is also scheduled for shipment soon. These 1500 gallon (6800 litre) tanks are soft-sided self-supporting units that are used as a water source on the fireline and to provide water for structural protection sprinkler systems. They are filled by hoseline, helicopter bucket or water trucks when natural sources of water are scarce or at a distance. They can also be used as relays on steep inclines. The tanks are positioned in locations partway up the incline and paired with power pumps to maintain good pressure in fire hoses further up the slope. When the tanks are placed in high locations gravity-feed can also be used to bring water down through hoses to the fireline.

Within Ontario, there have been no new fires reported in the East Fire Region during the last 24 hours.

There are currently no active fires in the region.

The fire hazard for the East Fire Region is low with, scattered pockets of moderate hazard in the central portion of the region.

When enjoying time outdoors, whether you are camping or picking blueberries, always be FireSmart. Please visit Ontario.ca/fireprevention for more information.

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