Fire fighting costs soar
Fire fighting costs soar
14 September 2006
published by www.tbsource.com
Ontario, Canada — The costs of dealing with the forest fire crisis in Northwestern Ontario continues to climb.
MNR officials say the price tag for fire suppression efforts has now risen to in excess of a million dollars a day and with the continued dry conditions across the region, there’s no end in sight.
The areas of most concern continue to be the Thunder Bay and Nipigon Districts, where the vast majority of recent fires have occurred. The MNR says burning conditions in those areas remains extreme.
The smoke generated by almost 350 active fires across the northwest continues to force the evacuation of large numbers of residents from remote native communities.
Geraldton and Longlac currently are hosting over one thousand residents of Deer Lake, Sandy Lake, North Spirit Lake and Weewaywin. About 120 residents of Gull Bay are now in Thunder Bay and the communities of Pays Plat, Ginoogaming and Aroland have also declared emergencies.
Pays Plat residents are said to be coming to Thunder Bay but those from Aroland and Ginoogaming are being directed to Cochrane.