Ontario sees slow forest fire season a year after record-setting fires
The Ontario government says forest fires have dwindled dramatically this year compared with last year, when fires tore through a record amount of land in the province.
Evan Lizotte, a fire information officer with the Ministry of Natural Resources, says there have been 179 fires this year so far, which have burned 2,416 hectares of land.
He says that's compared with more than 1,000 forest fires and more than 782,119 hectares burned by the same time last year -- the most land burned on record in Ontario.
Lizotte says forest fires are driven by weather, and cyclical patterns of warm temperatures followed by significant and widespread precipitation have mostly kept them in check this year.
He says drought conditions last year made the ground three or four times more receptive to lightning strikes that could spark fires; meanwhile, this year some regions had snow into May.
Lizotte says it's not uncommon to see slower forest fire seasons occasionally, noting that was also the case in 2014, 2008 and 2004.
(The Canadian Press)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Feds hope to table foreign interference legislation next week: LeBlanc
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to table legislation this week to help the federal government address foreign interference, but he wouldn't say whether the proposal will include a foreign agent registry.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Centre Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs hasn't been ruled out of tonight's Game 7 against the Boston Bruins.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.