Residents of Thunder Bay are learning that Ontario's wildfire program is "on the verge of collapse," a veteran firefighter and union rep says.
Noah Freedman, who's been a wildland firefighter crew leader, and is vice-president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union Neighborhood 703, told CBC News the province is mismanaging and neglecting the program. "We're just trying to make sure that message gets across so that we can fix this problem before it completely collapses," Freedman indicated. The 2026 wildfire season has led to several evacuations, and loss of structures and property.First Nations chiefs recently held a news conference calling for a public inquiry into the provincial response to the wildfires, and the removal of top Ministry of Natural Resources staff.
"The phrase that I keep hearing, I would say, most from my colleagues, is the term embarrassment," Freedman declared. "We plan every day and train to prevent situations like this from happening, and when you don't have the basic resources to make sure that communities are protected and things like this happen, it makes us incredibly sad for the communities." Freedman declared the province has been losing firefighters at "catastrophic levels" over the last decade. How to reduce wildfire risk and the likelihood of property damage in the regional capital, Ont. "To put that into perspective, Ontario currently has approximately 150 of its wildland fire crews out of a historical number of 200," he indicated.
"And we did not have that." "There were approximately 12 of these fires that escaped control, that got extremely large, that threatened and destroyed some of our communities.
Freedman shared the province has conducted its own investigations into the number of staff leaving the job, and the main issue is compensation and benefits. Freedman also noted that 2026 is "the first year in Ontario's history that Ontario didn't sign a long term helicopter contract." "What that means is that Ontario is supposed to have a base number of helicopters that have the ability to fit an entire fire crew and all of their fire gear to go get fires while they're small," he indicated. "And we did not have that." "There were approximately 12 of these fires that escaped control, that got extremely large, that threatened and destroyed some of our communities. And that was directly a result of us not being able to be efficient like we normally do." First Nation chiefs call for public inquiry into Ontario government's wildfire response In an email to CBC News, a Ministry of Natural Resources spokesperson noted the province has access to 63 helicopters. That includes eight that are provincially-owned, 50 that are contracted, and five that can be provided through agreements with the Alberta and federal governments. "The ministry’s own fleet of 28 aircraft includes nine CL-415 heavy water bombers; eight intermediate helicopters; six Twin Otters and five Turbo Beavers which provide wildland fire suppression," the email states. "All available aircraft are crewed and actively supporting wildfire response efforts." "We are also making a historic $650 million investment to expand the province’s firefighting air fleet with six new waterbombers and five new helicopters. We have added an additional 170 permanent fire personnel positions, including crew leader roles. We have also increased compensation for our critical roles like our heroic fire fighters and pilots." The email also states that the ministry conducts an "after-action review to inform future responses" after every fire season. It is a priority for CBC to create products that are accessible to all in Canada including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges. Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered onCBC Gem..
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📍 Source: CBC News Thunder Bay · By: CBC News Staff · 🗓️ July 28, 2026 · 🏠 ThunderBay.Online
