Bans issued across Ontario as 80 wild fires burn across the province

Toronto landmarks hidden under wildfire smoke Toronto and Montreal had the worst air quality in the world on Friday as wildfire smoke wreaths the city skyline in a haze.

There are currently at least 80 wildfires burning in Ontario.

Twenty-seven of those are in the province’s northeast region, while 53 are in the northwest, according to data provided by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

The fire hazard remains high to extreme for most of the province today, the ministry says.

Most of Ontario entered a multi-day heat event on Tuesday that could see temperatures soar into the low 40s. While regions in the north saw rain over the weekend, officials say it provided little relief from the fires.

All regions in Ontario are currently under fire bans. Open-air burning, including campfires, is not permitted. Propane gas or propane stoves may be used but officials urge people to handle them with extreme caution.

A ‘NEW NORMAL’ FOR ONTARIO

In 2022, the government recorded 109 forest fires. So far this year, the province has reported more than three times as many than last year’s count. Collectively, 368 fires have burned more than 110,000 hectares of land in Ontario this year.

The provincial 10-year average is about 140 fires.

Of the fires noted by the CIFFC from April to June—which includes 275 fires—about 102 were caused by humans, while another 173 were naturally caused.

Earlier this month, Premier Doug Ford urged residents not to light campfires in an effort to prevent further blazes from starting.

"I'm asking every Ontarian: please do not light any campfires," Ford said. "We're out there, all the firefighters are out there I should say, fighting against these wildfires [...] we will throw every resource we can to make sure we put these fires out."

However, experts say it’s more than just human responsibility, and that climate change is playing a large part in the spread of fires.

Tanzina Mohsin, assistant professor in the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences at the University of Toronto, told CTV News Toronto earlier this month that rising temperatures are a “key factor” in the increase of fires.

"This is basically drying our forests and causing it to burn more,” she said.

“We are creating a thirsty atmosphere and this is pulling water out of our plants and that is causing our vegetation to be dryer than normal, and then you see these forest fires are spreading quicker.”

Ontario's chief medical officer Dr. Kieran Moore said last month that increased wildfire smoke is a "new normal" in the province and suggested people get into the daily habit of checking air quality.

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Katherine Declerq and CTV News Northern Ontario’s Chelsea Papineau.