High Park and South Humber Park to carry out traditional, prescribed burns in April
Date will be selected 24-48 hours in advance, the city says
The City of Toronto will conduct traditional and prescribed burns in High Park and South Humber Park later this month, continuing an Indigenous practice that protects rare black oak savannah ecosystems.
Prescribed burns have been used across North America to restore and maintain fire-dependent ecosystems where naturally occurring fires provide renewal. Toronto has carried out the burns for over two decades.
"The traditional and prescribed burns are deliberately set and carefully controlled fires that burn low to the ground to consume dried leaves, twigs, and grass stems," the city said in a news release on Wednesday.
The burns are dependent on weather conditions, so the date will be selected 24 to 48 hours in advance, the city says.
The city says both burns will be conducted on the same day. The High Park burn will begin in the late morning, followed by South Humber Park in the afternoon.
On the day of the burn, High Park will be closed to vehicles and access will be limited to park users. South Humber Park will also restrict access on the day of the burn.
People should expect temporary closures of trails near active burn sites in both locations. The city says notices will be placed at park entrances and in the surrounding community to advise the public of when the burn will take place.
The city advises people with asthma and those who are highly sensitive to poison ivy to limit their exposure to the smoke by staying inside and keeping windows closed on the day of the burn.
"Under ideal weather conditions, smoke from the burns will not affect surrounding neighbourhoods. However, it is possible that some smoke will reach residential areas near the parks," said the city.
The burn, which the city says is done in collaboration with the Indigenous Land Stewardship Circle, has been named Biinaakzigewok Anishnaabeg, which means "the responsibility for a cleansing fire by all Native Peoples" in Anishinaabemowin.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Snow Lake residents get mandatory evacuation order; premier expresses ‘tremendous gratitude' to firefighters
Snow Lake residents have been ordered to leave the northern Manitoba community by noon Saturday due to an out-of-control wildfire that is burning in the region. The town of about 1,100 residents announced a mandatory evacuation order Friday. 'You must leave because of the danger to your health and safety,' a notice published on the town's Facebook page said. At least three fires have merged to become a massive blaze in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Flin Flon, Sherridon and several other communities in both provinces were previously evacuated. (Manitoba Conservation) A state of local emergency and a 48-hour evacuation notice were previously declared. Mayor Ron Scott previously said a mandatory evacuation would be ordered if the fire moved closer to town. At least three fires have merged to become a massive blaze in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Flin Flon, Sherridon and several other communities in both provinces were previously evacuated. In a Facebook post, the City of Flin Flon said the fire is about 140 kilometres long and five kilometres wide. The province said the fire was more than 307,000 hectares in Manitoba as of Thursday. A team of 260 people is trying to keep the fire out of Flin Flon and Creighton, just across the border in Saskatchewan. No structures had been destroyed in Flin Flon or Creighton as of Thursday night. 'Winds in the area are now blowing from the south, resulting in heavy smoke and fire moving towards the south side of Flin Flon,' the city said. Premier Wab Kinew saluted crews who are protecting communities, including Flin Flon and Sherridon, where teams have been holding flames back for more than a week. 'Hats off, and our tremendous gratitude to the firefighters — the local firefighters, Office of the Fire Commissioner, Wildfire Service — who've been battling these blazes,' he said at an unrelated event Friday. 'Just amazing work happening across the board, and it's happening because people are working together.' About 175 firefighters from across Canada and the U.S. have joined the fight. Mandatory evacuation orders are in place for at least 27 communities in Manitoba, resulting in the displacement of more than 18,000 residents. Many are staying with family or friends, or in hotel rooms. Hundreds of evacuees were flown to southern Ontario to stay in hotels there. Mandatory evacuation orders are in place for at least 27 communities in Manitoba, resulting in the displacement of more than 18,000 residents. More than 350 people were in congregate shelters as of Thursday. Provincial policy aims to get evacuees into hotel rooms rather than shelters, if they have nowhere else to stay. 'For those folks who are still in shelters, it's just a matter of matching them with rooms as they come online,' Kinew said. 'We're seeing about, over the past few days, maybe a couple hundred rooms become available per day.' Wednesdays Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. A handful of northern communities have moved seniors and people with breathing or medical conditions to Winnipeg due to poor air quality. 'We just have to do a balancing act as new medical patients come in from northern Manitoba, because some communities continue to evacuate due to smoke,' Kinew said. 'We have to preserve some (hotel) rooms for people who have accessibility issues or really intense medical needs, while continuing to move people out of the congregate shelters. 'At this point, the big-picture challenge around rooms has largely been addressed, and it's now just about the daily balancing act of triaging people coming in and people who are already in shelters and matching them up with rooms.' — With files from Gabrielle Piché Chris KitchingReporter Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris. Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Distraction at the Falls
Michael McLeod noticed something Thursday that had become rare in recent weeks — smiles on people's faces. Speaking to the Free Press from Niagara Falls, Ont., the 36-year-old Cross Lake resident was still taking in the wonder of seeing the world famous waterfalls for the very first time. He had arrived in southern Ontario the day before, following a week spent at the Winnipeg Soccer Federation Soccer North facility on Leila Avenue, where evacuees from fire-threatened communities were being housed. 'It was crazy, lots and lots of people,' McLeod said of the crowded congregate shelter. 'Some nights were restless nights. Everyone was panicking with the fires going on around Manitoba. It was just scary.' SUPPLIED Greenly Osborne, eight months, gets emotional as her family makes the trip from Cross Lake to Norway House. Thursday brought a different atmosphere. The people McLeod saw walking around near his hotel weren't as tense. 'They're distracted,' he said. 'It's good to see people smiling that way. It helps. Seeing the Falls boosts the spirits.' For McLeod — whose community, located roughly 815 kilometres north of Winnipeg, had been in the grip of a mass evacuation — the beauty of the Falls was more than a tourist attraction. It was a sight for weary eyes, long deprived of clear skies and clean air. Wednesdays Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. He'd spent days in Cross Lake helping with fire and rescue efforts, putting out grass fires and scanning the skies for embers as winds blew fires closer to town. Eventually, the danger became too great. 'We were prepared this time,' McLeod said, having gone through an evacuation a few years ago. 'Not prepared, I guess, but we knew we had to get out. It was pretty bad. They told us we had to leave.' Though scheduled to leave for Niagara Falls on Monday, McLeod stayed behind, insisting that women and children be given first priority. SUPPLIED Evacuation from Norway House as Lori Osborne and her family are airlifted to Winnipeg. 'It was bad that night, a lot of people tried jumping on the plane,' he said. 'I was bumped back, but women and children should go first.' Now scattered across Manitoba, his family remains top of mind. 'I'm taking it one day at a time out here,' he said. 'I just get too emotional thinking about back home.' Meanwhile, from her 18th-floor hotel room, Lori Osborne looked out over Niagara Falls — a view unlike anything the 29-year-old had ever seen. 'It's so freakin' beautiful,' she said from one of the 1,500 rooms the province has secured for Manitobans in Ontario. Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor said at a news conference on Thursday that about 800 of those rooms are occupied. Osborne, another evacuee from Cross Lake, had arrived in Niagara Falls on Wednesday with her family, including her four children — Sophie Osborne, 10, Lakota Robinson, 7, Meena Osborne, 5, and Greenly Osborne, eight months — and boyfriend, 29-year-old Stephan Robinson. SUPPLIED Lori Osborne and her family on a bus to Peguis First Nation after being evacuated from Cross Lake to Norway House where they were airlifted to Winnipeg and bussed to Peguis. Their long journey began early last week, first going to Norway House, then Winnipeg, and later to Peguis First Nation, where they were briefly settled. 'My boyfriend and I took turns carrying our 29-pound eight-month-old,' Osborne said, having not been able to take their stroller from Norway House. One was donated when they made it to Peguis. Osborne said her family didn't want to leave there. 'It felt like home… I was really sad,' she said. 'I loved it. My kids had things to do every day. We stayed in a multiplex, and my boyfriend made us a little shelter area with sheets and dividers. 'There was a bouncy castle, an arcade, a pool table… they had everything there.' Their trek, however, was anything but smooth. After arriving at the airport Tuesday night and waiting until 1 a.m., their flight was delayed. They returned to Peguis and flew out the next day — though their luggage had already made the trip without them. 'We thought we would just be there for a week until it blows over,' she said. 'Then we got the call we were going to Niagara Falls.' SUPPLIED Lori Osborne's boyfriend, Stephan Robinson, left, and daughter Sophie Osborne, 10, pass the time while staying at the multiplex in Peguis First Nation. Jamie Anderson, 26, from Cross Lake, heard stories of people losing their homes on his flight to Niagara Falls on Tuesday. 'You just felt bad for them,' he said, adding there were passengers from Flin Flon, Pukatawagan and Split Lake, among other communities. 'Just praying for everybody.' Before arriving in Ontario, Anderson spent several nights at Century Arena in Winnipeg after being evacuated last weekend. At first, even finding a place to rest wasn't easy, as all the cots were taken. 'But Red Cross was really good, the hospitality, the people were great. They fed us, gave us taxi vouchers so we could go pick up our government cheques, and provided buses so we could get to where we needed to go,' he said. 'I can't complain, at least I'm out of the fire, out of the danger zone.' Anderson said he still has some brothers back in Cross Lake helping to fight the fires. 'Another brother and his family are in Brandon,' he said. 'And my mother, sister and little brother are in Winnipeg, all accommodated. They're all good.' SUPPLIED Lori Osborne and her family are now staying in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Now settled in Niagara Falls, Anderson visited the famous waterfalls on Tuesday and found himself settling down, something he hasn't been able to do in days. 'From my hotel, either direction you go, you're going to find something to do,' he said. 'You're seeing smiles on people's faces.' Scott BilleckReporter Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade's worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024. Read more about Scott. Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CTV News
3 days ago
- CTV News
Largest wildfire in Manitoba over 300,000 hectares in size
CTV's Scott Hurst reports on wildfires across the Prairies, as Manitoba First Nations say they lack equipment to battle the growing blazes.
