The following statement was issued today by Kevin Aylward, Minister of Forest Resources and Agrifoods. It was also read in the House of Assembly: The 1999 forest fire season in Newfoundland and Labrador was one of the busiest in recent memory. Exceptionally warm and dry weather conditions caused an above average number of fire starts resulting in increased hectares being burnt. Newfoundland Forest Service officials have recently compiled statistics from the 1999 forest fire season which I would like to share with the House today. In 1999 the province recorded 228 forest fires which burnt a total of 39,291.9 hectares of forested land. Of the 228 fires recorded, 176 were linked to humans and 52 were caused by lightening. The department employs 118 staff who are committed to fire suppression. This included 93 fire fighters and 18 other seasonal workers such as radio operators. Seven are permanent staff such as conversation officers. In addition to the full time staff, fire suppression assistance was provided by Department of Forest Resources and Agrifoods casual staff, several volunteer fire departments and from fire fighting services provided by Abitibi Consolidated. In an effort to help reduce the forest fire risk, government declared a Forest Fire Ban on June 24, which remained in effect until July 24. Property loss resulting from forest fires in 1999 totalled $415,700. This included a number of cabins, as well as other personal property. A number of problem fires occurred during the 1999 fire season. The most serious fire started in the Buchans area and quickly spread towards the Town of Badger at one point moving to within 300 feet of the town. In a move to protect citizens of Badger, an evacuation, which lasted six days, was declared. This forest fire was the most serious fire experienced by the province in a number of years. By the time the Badger fire was declared out on August 11, it had cost in excess of $2 million. The total cost of fire suppression activity for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1999 was $12,583,800. Of this amount, approximately $4.5 million was used to lease and operate aircraft and approximately $8 million was spent on other operational fire fighting activities. The level of water bombing activity during 1999 was significant:
Forest protection has and will continue to be a priority for this government. Accordingly, in 1999 my department initiated and implemented a number of forest fire prevention initiatives including:
As part of government's ongoing effort to improve its forest fire fighting capability, officials in my department are still busy analyzing fires which occurred this past summer. The information being gathered will be reviewed and used in the formation of an even more effective forest fire suppression strategy for Newfoundland and Labrador. 1999 12 03 3:05 p.m. |
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