Ontario wildfires rage as B.C. wildfire season ramps up

Insurers are monitoring about 75 wildfires in northern Ontario this that have resulted in mandatory evacuation orders or alerts in the cottage country districts of Parry Sound and Sudbury, among other areas.

“Based on what we are seeing, there aren’t too many fires threatening many areas that are inhabited,” Pete Karageorgos, director of consumer and industry relations (Ontario) at Insurance Bureau of Canada, told Canadian Underwriter Monday.

Among the active fires is Parry Sound 33. Credit: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

“Obviously, there are some cottages and properties that were ordered to evacuate because they were primarily water access, which would indicate that they are likely seasonal for the most part — but you never know. We are monitoring this. There are so many fires, it’s a question of how inhabited are the areas that are of the most concern.”

Among the active fires is Parry Sound 33, reportedly more than 5,000 hectares. That fire has led to a mandatory evacuation order and travel bans in all areas ranging from the western and northern borders of French River Provincial Park, east to Highway 69, and as far south as the south shore of the Key River. The order includes all residents and members of the public on both the north and south shores of the French River, and the Pickerel River, as well as Hartley Bay.

Sudbury 83 is a fire located approximately 12 km north of the City of Greater Sudbury and currently listed at 53 hectares and not yet under control.

Glenn McGillivray, managing director for the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, says the Ontario wildfires are not presenting in any unique ways compared to wildfires that happen throughout the rest of Canada. “These fires are happening in the Boreal forest, which makes up about 60% of the country,” he told Canadian Underwriter Monday. “This is a coniferous forest, the needled trees that make up the Boreal can be extremely explosive in hot, dry, low humidity weather.”

Large fires of greater than 200 hectares are fairly common in northeastern Ontario, he added, although they are more common in central western Ontario.

“The big problem I see is that I often hear people say ‘We don’t get wildfires in Ontario,’ or, ‘We don’t get large wildfires in Ontario,’ which is absolutely untrue,” McGillivray said. “There is nothing out of the ordinary with these fires.”

Ontario has been getting firefighting resources help from B.C., notes Kim Connors, executive director of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC). Each province is responsible for its own firefighting efforts, but the CIFFC provides operational wildland fire-control services when provinces help assist one another.

“B.C. hasn’t had any help from Ontario this year—yet,” Connors told Canadian Underwriter Monday. “But Ontario’s been very busy and they’ve had help from various provinces and jurisdictions as well. Ontario hasn’t had this kind of activity for a number of years. It’s just a wave.”

Connors said B.C. has “been relatively quiet until now,” but now wildfires in the province are starting to ramp up. B.C. now has 110 fires burning over an area spanning more than 55,000 hectares. Approximately 1,400 personnel in B.C. are currently supporting the firefighting efforts, the CIFFC notes.

“So far, B.C. hasn’t asked for any outside assistance, but they could at any time,” Connors said. “B.C. has been helping Ontario all along, but their commitment is a 14-day commitment. The commitment ends this week, so all of the B.C. resources will be leaving Ontario to go back to their own province, and they won’t be replaced because they are starting to get busy themselves.”

Ontario has received firefighting assistance from most provinces, as well as from the United States and Mexico.

“The big issue or challenge, in my view, occurs when several provinces are having active fire seasons at the same time,” McGillivray says. “When more than a few provinces have bad years, the resources become scarcer, then we have to lean on U.S. and other mutual aid agreements. This system gets testing from time to time. And this may be one of those times.”