2025-May-29
The 2025 Fire Forecast
The Weather Network has just released their summer forecast and the outlook is HOT! They are predicting a hot, humid summer with average rainfall for the Georgian Bay area. In areas to the north and west of Lake Superior, however, wildfires are a major concern, which could potentially impact air quality around Georgian Bay and other parts of Canada.
Last year we were fortunate that the wildfire season started slowly with a wet spring and summer. Ontario saw a total of 480 wildland fires affecting 89,841 hectares across the province, which was well below the previous year and the ten-year average. The Ontario government has geared up for the 2025 wildland fire season, which runs from April 1 to October 31. To protect communities and resources, they’ve made significant investments in firefighting capacity.
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Nearly 100 new permanent positions to support fire season operations
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$64 million investment in the wildland fire program, funding equipment and technology, including:
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Forest fire suppression equipment
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Emergency management software
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Fuel systems and trucks
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Four additional medium helicopters contracted to support fire suppression, bringing the total to 13
In Ontario’s fire zone, you must follow Ontario’s Outdoor Burning Regulations to have an outdoor fire. By law, you need a fire permit to burn wood, brush, leaves and grass outside during the fire season (April 1 – October 31) unless you follow all the rules outlined below and:
- conditions allow it to burn safely until extinguished
- you take all necessary steps to tend, control and extinguish the fire
- you are not having an open fire in a restricted fire zone
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Collectively we can reduce the chance of wildfires by respecting the fire danger ratings and follow the rules associated with that level of danger. To that end, GBA posts a weekly fire danger rating every Thursday to alert you to the risks are in your area.
Additional Resources
- Find GBA’s weekly Fire Danger Ratings here every Thursday throughout fire season.
- FireSmoke.ca will help you stay on top of smoky conditions and air quality concerns.
- GBA’s Fireproof your Life has some great resources and tips sheets to help mitigate the risk of fire at your cottage.
- Get more information on fire and fire prevention here.
- Learn how the ministry manages wildland fires (grass, brush and forest fires) in Ontario here.
- Learn how to prevent fires while enjoying the great outdoors here.