The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources aviation and forest fire management branch reports that provincially, the 2009 forest fire season was the second lowest recorded number of forest fires in Ontario in the past 50 years.

The lowest year on record was 2008.

The total number of fires this season was 384, burning 20,656 hectares of land.

The 2009 fire season officially ended on October 31 and was close behind the 2008 forest fire season in Ontario which had 341 fires burning 1,316 hectares.

The ten year average number of forest fires in Ontario is 1,160 burning 108,337 hectares.

These low activity seasons are mostly the result of cool, wet weather which helps reduce the chance of fires spreading from outdoor fires that people set, and reduces the chance of ignition due to lightning strikes.

The fire response system in Ontario is designed to expand and scale back according to the fire danger so it is always operating in an
efficient manner.

As an emergency fire response resource for Ontario, as well as other provinces in Canada and also the United States the ministry always has to be prepared to respond immediately to protect people, their property and industrial values.

This requires maintaining a highly trained workforce and ongoing research and development to constantly improve fire response techniques and equipment.

Record setting levels of support to another fire jurisdiction were provided this year with dispatches of personnel and equipment to British Columbia which had a very active fire season from the end of July through to mid-September.