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In-depth

Previous In-depths Landmark land settlement Carbon Conundrum Caribou in Canada The Mackenzie Delta Torngat Mountains Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii) Travels with Louis British Columbia's Gulf Islands Moose on the loose Sustainable cities Icebergs Canada's musical landscape Quebec's James Bay Ottawa Valley Green with jade Hunting for cures Wild horses Canada's Bison Canada's place in the world Lessons learned in schools Power of powwows Cougars in Canada Greenland sharks Boreal birds Arctic grizzlies Lake Erie's Fire in the boreal forest Energy matters Parks for all Bighorn sheep Finding our way in the wilderness Shipwrecks of Nova Scotia Canada's grizzly bears

Contents Feature - Forest fires Let it burn! The forest of fire Smoke Jumper Canada's incendiary past GIS Safe campfire Facts Cartographer's table Games CG vault Re:sources

In the old days, the stereotypical fire fighter was the kind of burly man who would bravely face an onrush of smoke and flames — the only sign of fear a mere squint of the eye or a bead of sweat trickling across a soot-stained temple. Although such heroic wildfire fighters still exist, they are now joined by a team of trusty sidekicks who couldn't be more different.

Dressed in casual office gear and sheltered in air-conditioned offices, the new breed of fire fighter faces an onrush of virtual flames scorching the digital world of their computer.

Like military masterminds plotting a theoretical war on a chessboard, Ontario fire teams use the Level of Protection Analysis System, or LEOPARDS for short, a wildfire computer program used to strategize for the future using information from the past.

Leopards is stock-piled with a complete history of wildfires in Ontario since the 1960s – where every fire burned, how large it became, specific weather patterns and what it took to snuff it out. Using this information as a prototype, fire managers set a series of virtual fires that resemble these previous blazes.

With forests burning brightly inside their computers, fire managers can begin the battle using a cyber-army complete with water bombers, helicopters, bulldozers and ground crews. The battle is over in a matter of seconds and the computer spits out either an ultimate victory or a smoldering defeat.

If the program was able to control the blaze using the resources provided, then fire managers can develop strategies for when a similar fire occurs in reality. Planning ahead for a potential fire reduces the risk of damage to valuable forests, private property and people. However, if the fire raged out of control then planners know a larger army is required to fight a similar fire of the future.

The main purpose of this computer system is not to predict where and how a fire will occur but to develop strategies that could be used to fight fires and the associated costs. When reduced to dollars and cents, fire organizations can work with the provincial government to show how much a fire will cost to fight versus how much a fire will cost in damages. Gauging costs and planning for the worst will help prepare Ontario's fire organizations of today for the battle of tomorrow.

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