Forest fire sensor testing at Iroquois Shoreline Woods Park on Friday, September 12, 2025

The Town of Oakville has authorized Siemens Canada Ltd. to test new equipment they have designed related to early detection of forest fires.

As a part of testing the effectiveness of the sensors, three small, controlled burns within barrels will be performed by the Town on Friday, September 12, 2025, between 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., weather permitting. 

Should the weather be unsuitable, the burn will be rescheduled to the week of September 15, 2025. The test will take place with full support and cooperation of the Town’s Parks and Open Space - Forestry staff, as well as the Oakville Fire Department, to ensure the safety of all involved, the public, and the neighbourhood. 

The Town continues to work on increasing the resilience of our forests by protecting the canopy they provide, planting a diversity of native trees species, and planning ahead to guard against any potential future threats.

It is important to note, while forest fires have been recently in the news, Oakville is within a forest ecosystem that is not prone to forest fires and the project by Siemens is to provide baseline data to compare to other jurisdictions and areas where these sensors may be used in the future. To learn more about their project, please read Siemens’ news release.

For more information on the controlled burns, please contact ServiceOakville at service@oakville.ca, 905-845-6601, or toll-free at 1-877-625-8455.