A total of 104 wildland firefighting personnel from Mexico have arrived in Northwestern Ontario to help fight the wildland fires that have caused widespread evacuations in the region.
The province has received assistance from Mexico through the Mutual Aid Resource Sharing Agreement, confirmed Alison Bezubiak, fire information officer with the MNR. That includes 100 firefighters and four agency representatives that arrived Tuesday through the Thunder Bay Airport.
Bezubiak said that Ontario shares personnel and other resources during periods of escalated wildland fire activity with provincial, territorial and federal partners.
She said that the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) brokers the necessary movement of personnel and equipment resources across the country.
As well, she said the CIFFC and other member agencies have resource sharing agreements with the United States, Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand.
Bezubiak said the firefighters will undergo mandatory training to become familiar with Ontario-specific practices before being deployed to assist with suppression efforts across the Northwest Region.
Bezubiak said she cannot confirm the specific assignments for the Mexican firefighters at this time.
She added Ontario has welcomed personnel, aircraft and equipment resources from Alberta, the Yukon, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, PEI, the Canadian Forest Service, Mexico and the Pan Canadian Aerial Asset Program managed by CIFFC.
She said the MNR is grateful to receive the support through this period of escalated fire activity.
Bezubiak also confirmed there has been a considerable change in conditions from two weeks ago as cooler temperatures and rainfall across the region have helped limit the number of new fires. Aerial suppression and ground crews have been able to take advantage of this change in weather to make progress on larger fires and extinguish many smaller fires.
The forest fire danger rating is mainly moderate across the region as of Tuesday. However, recent precipitation has been accompanied by significant lightning activity.
Forest fuels remain very dry, she said. In some cases, lightning can ignite deep-burning fires on or below the forest floor that remain undetected for several days.
New lightning-caused fires can appear up to a week later. With warm, dry days in the forecast, MNR staff continues to monitor the landscape for new fires.
The Restricted Fire Zone across most of the region will remain in effect until further notice.