Ontario town boosts wildfire readiness

Deep River is set to strengthen its ability to fight wildfires.

On the agenda of this week’s council meeting is a recommendation from Fire Chief Gary McRae, calling on the town to enter into a forest fire management agreement with the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR).

In his report to council, McRae point out that Deep River is situated within a “fire region” as defined under provincial legislation.

And, under the amended and newly renamed Wildland Fire Management Act passed by the province last year, the town is responsible for extinguishing wildland fires (grass, bush and forest) within municipal limits at its own expense.

The town has help in that regard from mutual aid partners like Laurentian Hills and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, but the fire chief says bringing the MNR on board for help would greatly broaden its range of support.

“A formal partnership with the MNR strengthen our response capabilities to ensure adequate resources for large-scale wildland fire suppression,” McRae states in his report.

McRae adds that, should the town require the assistance of MNR water bombers or fire ranger crews, the agreement would ensure the costs of those services would be capped or shared according to a provincial scale.

“Without the agreement, the town would pay full cost for provincial resources.”

The town has already taken steps towards improving its wildfire suppression capabilities, budgeting $46,000 this year for an advanced mobile sprinkler system, which can be deployed quickly to protect urban properties adjacent to forested areas.