It’s still too early to tell what the forest fire season will be like in Muskoka. At this point, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) says it pretty much depends on the weather.
“It’s difficult to predict what we’re going to see later on in the season, a lot will depend on the precipitation amount we see here throughout the Spring and throughout the remainder of the fire season,” said Fire Information Officer, Shayne McCool.
He added that they are keeping an eye on the areas that are losing snow a lot quicker and will respond to forest fires as they occur.
Last year, Ontario had a total of 607 forest fires compared to 537 in 2019.
On April 3rd of last year, the provincial government had issued a province-wide restricted fire zone (fire ban) to reduce the spread of COVID-19. This year, McCool says they aren’t looking to do that.
“With the health and safety protocols around COVID-19 now well established, a restricted fire zone is not necessary at this time.”
He added that, when the restricted fire zone was put into place last year, the provincial government and the ministry had conversations when implementing it.
The provincial government has not contacted the MNRF to discuss a province-wide fire ban, and like mentioned above, the ministry and the government have not indicated the need for one.
