This unusually hot, dry summer is creating consequences that are proving difficult to cope with.  From farmers' fields drying up and crops being lost to the heat and the drought, to brush fires cropping up close to residential areas proving difficult to put out.  One multi-hectare brush fire after another, with fire crews spending day after exhausting day attempting to deal with the menace.

Others stay vigilant on the hunt for hot spots where fires have been contained.  Fire Services bring in their helicopters to assist in spotting fire the the air, monitoring spreads, dumping water.  "I never saw it as dry back there in my life" said one nearby resident.  It's why municipal authorities are encouraging people who draw their water from the Ottawa River, despite its relative decline, to use water judiciously, but to use it to water their parched lawns and gardens, to prevent spontaneous bursts of fire or the likelihood of fire caused by careless discarding of cigarettes.

Fire crews from CFB Petawawa have halted a forest fire at the base caused by tinder-dry conditions northwest of Pembroke.  CFB Petawawa borders part of the eastern edge of Algonquin Provincial Park, the semi-wilderness jewel in the crown of Ontario's precious natural landscape.  The Ministry of Natural Resources ordered an evacuation of campers with park rangers fanned out in canoes and a Twin Otter floatplane to alert campers to the dangers and point them toward the safest routes out of the park.

"The campground was easy, you just tell people to leave and they get in their cars.  But when you have people on multi-day trips on those interior canoe routes, it gets tough. But we think we now have everyone out of that Achray area of eastern Algonquin."

The Renfrew County area has been hard hit, some farmers reporting fewer than two inches of rain since summer's arrival, causing the area to be declared in a Level 2 drought with a complete fire ban in effect.  Eastern Ontario remains on high alert for brush fires.  "We have not seen this level of urgency in dryness, drought, and lack of rain in years.  The ground is beyond extreme in terms of fire conditions and potential for serious fires."

There have been 52 calls to Ottawa Fire Services in less than a week.  A 40-hectare blaze in the west end brought over 100 firefighters out over several days, and it took almost a week to bring it under control, and to deal with the follow-on spot fires.  "They were averaging between 10 and 20 hot spots a day earlier in the week.  It's in the ground now and we just have to stay on top and monitor it.  We'll just have to wait and see what Mother Nature throws at us."