This exercise proved that land-based air tankers, working 

 from strategic locations, can be a valuable asset to fire sup- 

 pression in Ontario. 



Remote Sensing. An infra-red line scanner, specially de- 

 signed for wildfire mapping, was mounted on a Turbo 

 Beaver aircraft for the 1970 season. This equipment was the 

 result of a project initiated in 1962. The Forest Protection 

 Branch was vitally involved in the development of this 

 equipment through the field testing of the various proto- 

 types developed by Computing Devices of Canada. 



The 1970 season provided the opportunity for the infra- 

 red scanner to demonstrate its ability to map forest fires 

 through smoke and provide valuable information for sup- 

 pression planning purposes. An in-cabin recorder provides 

 an instant image of the fire, showing the actual fire edge 

 and surrounding terrain detail. 



A PhiTran automatic weather station was obtained late in 

 the fire season. This equipment consists of a master or base 

 station and up to ten satellite stations. The satellite station 

 records weather data such as rainfall, relative humidity, 

 windspeed and temperature, and relays it via single side- 

 band radio to the master station in code. The master station 



STATEMENT OF FIRE DAMAGE, 1970 



Forest District 



Merchantable 



Cu. tt. 



Foreft protection equipment In storage. Thunder Bay Forest 

 District. Photo bv C. Van Cemerden. 



translates the code for presentation on a teletype print-out. 

 The information is sent automatically at preset times or can 

 be obtained on demand. The range of the equipment is 80 

 to 150 miles. This type of equipment means that weather 

 information, \ital to fire control planning, can be obtained 

 from areas that could not previously supply this data. 



Forest 

 Losses 



Sioux Lookout 36,833,480 



Kenora 6,596 



Fort Frances 92,295 



Thunder Bay 17,045 



Geraldton 7,635,632 



White River 198,552 



Cochrane 72,951 



Kapuskasing 49,168 



Chapleau — 



Swastika — 



Sault Ste. Marie — 



North Bay — 



Sudbury 5,701 



Parry Sound 264 



Pembroke — 



Tweed 40,440 



Lindsay — 



Kemptville 50 



Lake Simcoe — 



Lake Huron — 



TOTALS 44,952,174 



1,155,009 



285 



3,539 



908 



149,770 



6,170 



2,559 



1,621 



443 

 9 



2,724 



4 



1,323,041 



28,815 



25,061 



1,376,917 



47 



