150K Lightning Strikes In 5 Days Set Off Ontario's Paper-Dry Forests

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Strafed by more than 150,000 lightning strikes in the space of five days, Ontario's tinder-dry forests were being ravaged by fire Tuesday as officials warned they may not have enough personnel on hand to keep the blazes under control.

There were 147 active forest fires in the province, 63 of which started Monday, and more than 1,500 firefighters on the ground in the battle — 207 of whom were on loan from the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and the western provinces.

The province has seen twice the number of fires this year as the 10-year average — but has managed through proactive firefighting to keep them smaller than normal, said Ontario Fire Information Officer Bob Thomas. The problem isn't the number of fires, it's the number of firefighters, Thomas said.

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Ontario's biggest fire is about 100 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, said Mr. Thomas, and it's 5,000 hectares in size. It's just one of 50 blazes that are burning out of control across the province, he said.
The fire that caused Big Water Lake Campground's evacuation, the only one so far to pose a danger to people, was being held steady Tuesday by firefighters, he added. Forest fire researcher Tim Lynham of the federal Canadian Forest Service said Canada's fire situation has been about average so far this year.

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050809.wfirez0809/BNStory/National/