FOREST PROTECTION SECTION 



Forest Fire Control 



During the I960 fire season, 956 fires occurred burning over a 

 total of 31 » 386 acres. During the previous decade, 1950 to 1959 inclusive, 

 average fire occurrence was 1,293 fires and average annual area burned 

 97 » 516 acres. It will be noted, for I960, that the number of fires and 

 area burned is 7^% and ^2% respectively of the previous decade average. 

 Fire Danger Conditions Rainfalls during the I960 fire season were light, 

 but ideally spaced from a fire control standpoint. Only one period of 

 extended drought and extreme fire danger occurred in the Province, in the 

 Sioux Lookout district. A serious fire situation occurred in this area of 

 North Western Ontario and lasted for the greater part of July. 



In Sioux Lookout district during the month of July, the number of 

 days in each fire danger class was as follows: 



Low - 1 day 

 Medium - 3 days 

 High - 17 days 

 From this it can be seen that the fire danger or dryness of forest 

 fuels was rated high to extreme during 90% of the month of July. Also during 

 the month of July in Sioux Lookout district, 10^- fires were reported, 52 of 

 which occurred in a five day period, July 7th to 11th inclusive. The lOM- 

 fires mentioned burned over a total of 19,722 acres which is approximately 

 6^% of the total area burned for the entire province during I960, 



Fire conditions in Sioux Lookout district were considerably above 

 average during the I960 fire season. The remainder of the province experi- 

 enced average to below average fire conditions during the same period.. 

 Fire Frequency by Cause Lightning caused approximately 32% of all fires 

 reported during the I960 fire season. This is lOJ^ higher than the decade 



