The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) has the lead responsibility for wildfire prevention, suppression and management on Crown land in Ontario. This protocol provides direction to forest managers and industrial operators for the prevention and suppression of wildfires in forested areas within the fire regions during the fire season, normally April 1 - October 31.
The goal is to ensure:
-
Industrial operations are conducted in a manner that prevents wildfires from starting and does not increase the seasonal forest fire load.
-
Wildfires are detected and reported.
-
Industrial operators continue to work safely as long as possible as the fire danger increases.
-
Employees are adequately trained to use available equipment to take safe action that will reduce the negative impact or damage from a fire, should one occur.
The protocol provides a consistent methodology for modifying industrial activities by:
-
Determining when and where forest operations should be modified depending on the fire danger and the risk of the operations igniting a wildfire.
-
Incorporating other prevention methods in daily operations to reduce the risk of fires escaping within operating areas (i.e., fire suppression training, detection, and communications).
For industries other than forestry, review the guideline: Industrial Operations Protocol for Wildfire Prevention