Military evacuates hundreds as wildfires rip through northern Ontario
On Sunday, Ontario asked the federal government to dispatch military personnel to help evacuate the community of Sandy Lake after a nearby fire expanded, doubling in size toward the edge of town in a few hours.
Defence personnel said they had evacuated more than 900 people by Monday afternoon.
The evacuations mark the latest twist in an already busy fire season in the province, one critics argue the Ontario government failed to prepare for.
Data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre shows that the area of Ontario burned so far this year is already 38 times higher than it was last year.
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The province has recorded 174 fires to date, compared with 97 last year. The 174 fires so far this year are above the five- and 10-year average for Ontario.
For years, advocates, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union and internal documents have all warned Ontario is unprepared for a major fire season.
A government task force report in 2016, for example, warned that wildland forest fire rangers were quitting at an alarming rate and were being replaced with a dwindling number of inexperienced recruits. An aging fleet of waterbombers and other firefighting planes has also been hit with problems that saw them grounded for periods last summer.
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Advocates and the union representing front-line firefighters have advocated for better pay to attract more full-time firefighters. They have also pushed to be reclassified as an emergency service to improve cancer coverage and for more year-round career opportunities.
As of Monday, Ontario is mounting a full response to six out-of-control fires and another seven under control. The 13 fires total 216,225 hectares in size. With the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre rating the province's current ability to respond as 'poor,' the province has been forced to call in fresh resources.
Two CL-415 water bombers were sent to the province Monday, according to the fire centre. Firefighters from other provinces were also shipped in to help, along with a team of five from Wisconsin.
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Those fighting fire on the front lines have experienced close to three-week work stints without a break and fear burnout.
'Short staffing hasn't meant we have more fire on the landscape than we would have if we were fully staffed, but it means we're already on our second group of imported crews from B.C.,' said Eric Davidson, Ontario Wildfire Association president.
Davidson, who has been fighting fire in Ontario for 12 years, spoke to Global News to share his experience, not on behalf of the Ontario government or its firefighting operations.
'It means many crews are already on their second 19-day stretch,' he continued. 'If the summer continues like the spring, it won't take long to burn everyone out. Right now, crews get off a fire and are right back into the top of the alert rotation.'
Ontario NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa, whose riding includes the Sandy Lake community being evacuated, said the government had ignored warnings that the fire program was unprepared.
'I think over the last few summers, we've been warning people, letting the government know that we need to be prepared,' he said. 'We need to have the proper resources, proper planes and also planning to do the evacuations.'
He suggested that, with better resources, the worst of the current fires 'perhaps could have (been) avoided.'
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Global News asked the government about short-staffing on crews, but the Ministry of Natural Resources did not address the question.
A spokesperson said there were more than 50 helicopters and water bombers involved in the firefighting.
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