Ontario can and should do more to protect communities from wildfires — which are only going to become more problematic as climate change gets worse, experts say.

Currently, 166 wildfires are burning in northern Ontario, forcing the evacuation of five First Nations so far.

Sol Mamakwa, the NDP MPP for Kiiwetinoong, called on the Ford government to declare a state of emergency in the area to increase crisis resources. The province has issued an emergency order, which allows for some special measures to be taken, but has so far declined to declare a state of emergency, saying that would be federal jurisdiction since it deals with First Nations.

"More resources on the ground are needed, without delay, in order to successfully fight these fires and make communities safe again. This includes more helicopters, water bombers and more firefighters," reads a letter sent to Premier Doug Ford from Mamakwa and Thunder Bay-Atikokan NDP MPP Judith Monteith-Farrell.

The communities taking in evacuees don't have enough beds or air support to care for everyone, the MPPs said.

The pair noted Mexico and other provinces have sent firefighters to Ontario to help battle the blazes. "However, with the increasing severity of wildfires each year we need more local firefighting capacity here, and the firefighters we do have in the North need seamless re-certifications. This requires your political commitment to do this so the resources can be in place for when this happens again — which it will."

Ontario has seen 724 fires this season — a sharp increase over the 10-year average of 458 fires by July 18, which the MPPs called "extremely troubling."

They called on Ford to come to Red Lake "and see for yourself the devastation this has wrought and why more resources are required."

Stephen Warner, press secretary for Solicitor General Sylvia Jones, again noted "the federal government’s responsibility for the health, safety and well-being of First Nation communities on-reserve," but said the province has helped with evacuations and fighting the fires, and is "ready to provide all support necessary."

This is far from the last challenging fire season — but there's more that can be done, on the community level and at higher levels of government, experts say.

"These things are only going to get more challenging over time, i.e., climate change is effectively irreversible. It's here to stay," said Blair Feltmate, the head of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo. "And one aspect of manifestation will be fires being more problematic going forward."

Ontario has one of the best wildfire response strategies in Canada, said Mike Flannigan, a former scientist with the Candian Forest Service and current director of the University of Alberta's Western Partnership for Wildland Fire Science. The province's "appropriate response" triage protocol monitors how likely the fires are to cause harm to people, and makes decisions in minutes about whether to try to extinguish the fire, monitor it or let it burn.

"Timing's critical because when conditions are extreme like they've been this year, from the time the fire starts until it becomes difficult to impossible to manage, can be as little as 20 minutes," he said.

Fire management services are "overwhelmed as it is," said Lynn Johnston, a forest fire research specialist with the Canadian Forest Service.

"When there’s this many fires there's no way to handle it. So new options are definitely what we need," including more tools to help leaders and communities make decisions, like satellites, she said.

Some evacuations can be avoided by creating a fire shelter in each community, Flannigan said. These could be existing structures, like town halls or arenas, improved with fire-resistant materials and sprinklers, and independent water and power supplies.

"When a fire enters a community of any size — Fort McMurray, Slave Lake — first thing to go is municipal power, followed by municipal water supply," he said.

Adding air filters would also protect residents from hazardous smoke, Johnston said.

But when evacuations are necessary, each community should have a specific response plan that gets updated often, Johnston said.

National building codes for wildfires would also "really change things," she said.

"Canada, we currently don't have any building codes, or even suggestions for how make your house more fire-resistant," she said.

One non-government program exists for that purpose — FireSmart Canada — and the province should aggressively roll out information about it, Flannigan and Feltmate said.

The program started in 1995 as a way to encourage homeowners and communities to protect themselves from wildfires with upgrades like fire-resistant shingles and cladding, and through other changes — like storing wood far away from the house and creating multiple evacuation routes.

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Homeowners should get FireSmart information in the mail with their property taxes, so they have to look at it, Feltmate said.

“What I find, it’s not that people won’t do it, it’s that they don’t know what to do," he said, noting that fire-resistant upgrades can save homeowners money by lowering insurance costs and increasing the value of the home when they sell.

The province could also provide grants to help encourage people to make safety upgrades, he said.

The solutions exist — but step one is for leaders to act quickly, Feltman said.

"The one thing that is missing, I find, consistently, in terms of preparedness for climate change extreme weather risk, is a sense of urgency. There's too much complacency in the system," he said. "The good news is ... we have a very good idea of what needs to be put in place to mitigate those risks. That's the good news. The bad news is we're not operationalizing these practices fast enough."

‘There’s too much complacency’: Experts say leaders must prepare urgently for more extreme wildfires in the future

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