Most of Ontario remains under fire bans with 3 times as many wildfires reported in 2023

Effects of climate change and wildfires A research associate at Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, Anabela Bonada, on the importance of addressing climate change.

Most of Ontario remains under a provincial fire ban, with three times as many wildfires reported in 2023 compared to the same time period last year.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, there were 54 active wildland fires in Ontario as of early Saturday evening, including four new fires.

Since the beginning of the fire season, provincial data shows crews have fought at least 269 blazes, more than triple those seen in the same time period in 2022, in which 82 fires were reported.

Officials with the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) confirmed to CTV News Toronto that while Ontario has not received any interprovincial or international aid in fighting the fires so far, they do expect a deployment from Mexico on Monday.

A provincial map shows the majority of the province is within a Restricted Fire Zone (RFZ) as a result of the wildfires. Open fires and the burning of grass or debris are temporarily banned in these areas.

Most regions north of Highway 7 are within a RFZ, with much of northern Ontario labelled as having a high or extreme risk of forest fires.

As such, many provincial parks have banned campfires, and residents are being told not to use fire pits or charcoal barbecues.

Southern Ontario is not under a RFZ, however some municipalities may choose to put their own fire bans in place as a precaution.

In Saturday’s report by the CIFFC, officials say the bans have made a difference, however fires are continuing to spread.

“New starts have slowed over the last few days, due to a reprieve from fresh lightning and the implementation of the restricted fire zone,” the report reads.

“Existing fires continue to put on growth. Expect fire behaviour on the east side of the province to pick up as a new drying trend begins.”

According to the CIFFC, about 85,909 hectares have burned in Ontario in 2023 compared to the 2,337 hectares from the same months in 2022.

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.”

Provincial data notes the 10-year average of forest fires for this time period is 195.