Maple Mountain Tower

On the afternoon of July 8th, 2018, an aircraft en route to another fire near Temiskaming Shores in Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park detected a large wildland fire that became North Bay Fire #72. Caused by lightning, it exhibited extreme fire behavior and ultimately grew to 27,285 hectares. Firefighting resources from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Mexico assisted Ontario in suppressing it as part of the summer sharing of wildland firefighting resources among provinces according to weather and fire activity. The Maple Mountain Fire Tower stood above the surrounding landscape as the fire moved through the forest, and a 3.2 kilometer hiking trail leads to the abandoned tower, a popular destination for hiking, climbing, and mountaineering. Ontario's wildland fire management program aims to prevent loss of human life and injury, prevent and mitigate losses alongside economic and social disruption, promote understanding of the ecological role of fire, and use fire to benefit resource management. Each wildland fire in Ontario is assessed and given an appropriate response based on its situation and condition, with rapid action for fires posing immediate threats to high values such as communities or infrastructure, and management focused on limiting negative impacts and costs when values are not threatened or when the environment could benefit. Preventing wildland fires also depends on the public, whose management of vegetation and property conditions helps protect safety and reduce losses.

Ontario · Canada