August 3, 2011 - The Government of the Northwest Territories is sending 31 fire management personnel to Ontario as part of the Canadian Interagency Mutual Aid Resources Sharing Agreement (MARS Agreement).

Six five-person crews and an agency representative left for Thunder Bay today to help fight wildfires in the northwest part of the province.  The crews are from across the Northwest Territories (NWT).

Dry weather and lightning strikes sparked 27 new forest fires in northern Ontario in the past two days bringing the total number of fires burning across the province to 147.

NWT crews will be briefed in Thunder Bay before being deployed for initial attack on new fires starts in north western Ontario.

The MARS Agreement, signed by participating provinces, territories and the federal government, allows firefighting equipment, personnel and aircraft to be shared. The agreement sets out the terms under which resources can be legally shared, how resources will be made available, what costs will be involved and the conditions for their return.

For more information, contact:

Judy McLinton
Public Affairs and Communications
Tel:  (867) 873-7379
Email: judy_mclinton@gov.nt.ca
Website:  www.enr.gov.nt.ca