SUDBURY -- With the fire hazard rated low and plenty of people at home because of the pandemic, a former mayor of Greater Sudbury is wondering why the province has banned backyard fires across most of the province.
David Courtemanche, who is now executive director of the City of Lakes Family Health Team, retweeted a message from the City of Kitchener over the weekend, one that reminded residents that there is no fire ban in the city and that backyard fires are still allowed.
That made him wonder: "why them, and not us?"
"It seemed kind of unfair, even going back to early April when the fire ban was first announced, I thought it was a little premature and unreasonable," Courtemanche said Monday. "I was looking outside, there's a foot of snow on the ground and I was thinking 'OK, why are we talking about a fire ban?'"
While there are obviously much more important things going on in the world, he said he can't help but wonder why it's safe in the south, but not for the north.
He fully supports banning fires in areas outside urban zones, but Courtemanche wonders why people in Sudbury are part of the ban.
Northerners have been safely holding backyard fires for generations, and being allowed to have one with the people you are social distancing with would ease the stress of the pandemic.
"I know governments have a lot on their plates right now," he said. "(But) I think this is one area where they could fine-tune the fire restriction."
"I think it is reasonable, particularly here in northern Ontario. I think folks up here know how to build a safe campfire in their backyard, in a contained area, and follow the municipal open fire bylaw."
Brian Morrison, the acting deputy fire chief in Greater Sudbury, said Monday the current ban is imposed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.
The city followed suit and banned outdoor fires to support the province's decision.
"It is there to reduce the impacts related to the COVID-19 outbreak," Morrison said. "It's a proactive approach that they've made to reduce the number of human-caused fires. By doing that, we were able to protect our firefighting resources to deal with those non-human-caused fires that may occur."
The province is broken down into 36 fire zones, each in areas where fires historically have been a problem. Much of southern Ontario isn't in those restricted zones, so Morrison said a ban can't be imposed.
But some southern communities have imposed fire bans, using municipal authority.
In Sudbury, Morrison said protecting front-line emergency workers is the top priority. A COVID-19 outbreak could have devastating consequences.
"If we were to get a (COVID-19) exposure among firefighters -- we have a limited number of firefighters and there's no one who can step up and take over the work that they need to do," he said. "So, we have been taking many preventive measures to protect the firefighters."
Those steps include ensuring they don't have to respond to calls that could have been avoided through a fire ban, he said.
The city received 169 calls related to open burning complaints in 2019, Morrison said, although those calls aren't broken down between simple complaints that a neighbour has a fire and an actual call about a backyard fire that has to be put out.
So far in 2020, they have received 72 calls, most of which are people calling to report neighbours who are breaking the ban.
"The fact (is) that the public is concerned that people are burning, that they are violating the provincial order and they're calling us and saying, 'Hey, people are doing this,' and we have to send a fire apparatus there to deal with that," said the acting deputy fire chief.
While not a busy year, Morrison said firefighters have responded to some bush fires in parts of the city, requiring a significant response. The city's priority is to ensure their firefighters are healthy and able to respond when needed.
When asked when the ban would be lifted, Morrison said the city will take the lead from the province.
"When the province lifts their restricted fire zone, it would likely follow from that that we would open up our fire ban, as well," he said, adding the ministry has not indicated the conditions necessary for that to happen.
In an emailed statement, MNRF media relations officer Jolanta Kowalski said the ban was imposed to reduce the risk of emergency responders having to deal with human-made fires during the pandemic.
"Human-caused fires represent up to 50 per cent of wildland fires that occur in Ontario each year," the statement said. "The restricted fire zone is a preventative measure to try to reduce demand on our emergency response system. We hope that by reducing the occurrence of human-caused fires, emergency responders will be able to focus on the impacts of COVID-19."
When asked what specifically has to change for the fire ban to be lifted, the MNRF said only: "we will continue to assess the situation to determine when the restrictions can be lifted."
For his part, Courtemanche said he wanted to be clear that he thinks local, provincial and national leaders are handling the crisis well. But in the post-pandemic world, the blanket fire ban may be a policy that needs to be reviewed.
"You wouldn't want to be organizing social gatherings by any stretch, but for the people in your house, to get outside under the stars with a small campfire that is contained, I don't think it's any risk to the public and doesn't take away from our first responder resources," said the former mayor.
