Mitigation
This year, the Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services program issued three FireSmart Community Grants.
Under the FireSmart Canada Community Recognition Program, the Elliot Lake communities of Dunlop Shores and Quirke & Popeye Lakes hosted their second FireSmart Canada event and received a National Wildfire Preparedness Day Grant as well. They gathered to discuss how they can continue to further implement strategies to reduce the risk of forest fires spreading to their properties, homes and cottages.
One Ontario community also completed their Community Wildfire Protection Plan under the grant program, which was completed by a contractor that was trained under our FireSmart Communities Workshop.
This year, the Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services program issued three FireSmart Community Grants.
Under the FireSmart Canada Community Recognition Program, the Elliot Lake communities of Dunlop Shores and Quirke & Popeye Lakes hosted their second FireSmart Canada event and received a National Wildfire Preparedness Day Grant as well. They gathered to discuss how they can continue to further implement strategies to reduce the risk of forest fires spreading to their properties, homes and cottages.
One Ontario community also completed their Community Wildfire Protection Plan under the grant program, which was completed by a contractor that was trained under our FireSmart Communities Workshop.
Mitigation
Fire dependent ecosystems are maintained in Ontario by the use of prescribed burning. AFFES supports Sustainable Forest License holders, Ontario Parks and other interested parties to use prescribed burning.
In 2017, there were 32 prescribed burns planned, of which eight of the burns occurred, burning 484 hectares. The range of objectives for these burns included: oak savannah and tallgrass prairie restoration/maintenance, invasive species control, habitat maintenance, hazard reduction and forest ecological renewal. Additional benefits, including staff training and organizational capacity building, also resulted from the planning and execution of the prescribed burns in the province this year.