As hot, dry conditions continue to hammer southern Ontario, many municipalities and provincial parks are issuing fire bans.
The temperature soared up to 34 degrees Celsius in Toronto Monday, as high humidity in southern Ontario made it feel more like 40 C in much of the province.
Toronto’s summer has been a hot one so far, with the City of Toronto issuing 18 heat alerts already this season, compared to 23 in all of 2005, which was one of the hottest summers on record.
Not only is the heat uncomfortable, it has also upped the risk of fire, leading to either full or partial fire bans in 47 of the province’s campsites.
One of the parks included in the fire ban is Algonquin Provincial Park.
A forest fire next to the park has been burning since Friday and it now covers approximately 125 hectares.
Water bombers were called in to deal with the blaze.
At Sandbanks Provincial Park, near Belleville, a full fire ban means campers are forbidden from lighting any type of fire, much to the surprise of some campers.
“We found out, actually, when we got here,” said camper Chuck Wurzer. “I didn’t know before we got here, but we just saw the sign on the gate coming in.”
The camp lights a communal fire pit just once a day, at 8 p.m., to give vacationers a chance to toast a marshmallow or two.
On Monday, Oshawa issued its own fire ban, joining many other municipalities in the GTA.
However, there is a little hope on the horizon: Environment Canada issued a thunderstorm watch for Toronto Monday evening and there is rain in the forecast for Thursday and Friday.
Still, only one dump of rain isn’t enough to reduce the fire ban.
Dry areas need at least three days of sustained rain to have a fire ban lifted.
The Ontario Parks website has a complete list of the fire bans in provincial parks.
With files from CTV Toronto’s Dana Levinson
