SHARBOT LAKE — Hot, dry conditions have firefighters working to stay on top of wildfires in Frontenac County north of Kingston.
Firefighters from Central Frontenac Township, supported by a helicopter and a fire crew from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests, spent three days last week containing and then extinguishing a wildfire.
“It was a hot, tough, difficult fire in very tough terrain,” said Greg Robinson, manager of emergency services and fire chief for Central Frontenac Fire and Rescue.
“It burned underground and that was a problem. The ground is so dry that it goes underground as much as a foot and it will run along tree roots or crevices in rocks and it will pop up somewhere else.”
About 20 firefighters from three of the township’s four fire stations were called out on Thursday and Friday to stop the 2.5 hectares fire from spreading east of Arden Road near the Stone Mills Township boundary.
Last week’s fire was likely started by a lightning strike, Robinson said, and was reported just around 5:20 p.m. by both a resident on the ground and the pilot of a passing aircraft.
No residences were threatened by last week’s fire, but a fire earlier this year did pose a threat to some residences.
Ironically, in a township known for its lakes and rivers, the biggest challenge last week was getting water to the firefighters at the scene.
“We had to run thousands of feet of hose and tanker the water in,” Robinson said. “We didn’t have a water supply close by so we had to use a water shuttle with tankers.
“I think that is the third fire this year that we’ve had where we haven’t had a water source nearby.”
According to the MNRF, there have been 625 forest fires in Ontario this year, almost four times as many as last year’s total of 163 fires and well above the 10-year average of 415 fires a year.
The bulk of the forest fires still burning are in Northern Ontario, including 55 active fires across the Northeast with a cluster of fires around Temagami posing the biggest risk.
The Central Frontenac area is considered at extreme danger of forest fire.
Complete fire bans are in place across the region, but Robinson said he expects more fires as the hot, dry conditions continue.
Link to original article in The Whig.com: Crews battle to contain wildfires