Hot new fire exhibit!

By Cindy Ellen Crawford and Kristy McKay

Ready, aim, fire! The exhibit comes to life - with Cindy Ellen Crawford and Stephanie Koroscil © Parks Canada

Taking care of the vast stretches of boreal forest that make up the back country of Pukaskwa National Park is, for the most part, behind the scenes work, out of the immediate reach of our many visitors and the general public. For this reason, the Northern Ontario Field Unit Fire Management team and External Relations have partnered to design a new fire exhibit that will help bring the magic to you!

Creating a new public outreach exhibit requires extensive research, investigation and interpretation of information. The magic comes when the exhibit finally goes live – in the proud grin of a child in full fire management crew gear, the broadening of public perspectives on the helpful role fire plays in a forest ecosystem, and the changing image on our display lenticular panel. The Prescribed Fire exhibit showcases why fires are intentionally set by Parks Canada staff and what the immediate and long-term benefits are of such action. The addition of fire equipment and crew gear that the visitor can try on and explore brings our work closer still.

Pukaskwa Fire Crew member, Stephanie Koroscil, was on hand to answer visitor questions © Parks Canada

The highlight of our display is the lenticular panel (used here for the very first time by Parks Canada) which uses two photos to create a 3-D hologram that transitions from one image to another as you walk by. Viewers often do a double-take or repeatedly walk past to try to figure out how it works. The process is effective at showing a dramatic change – the regrowth of a forest after a prescribed fire.

This year Parks Canada participated in the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre’s Bushplane Days on September 19 & 20, 2015. As a maiden voyage for our new exhibit, we’re happy to report that it was very well received. The bushplane museum welcomed more than 2,700 visitors to this weekend event. Parks Canada was featured on the visitor ‘passport’ that encouraged kids to visit a select number of the participants and activities to fill a booklet of stickers to be redeemed for a prize, which is to say that we were a ‘must see’ feature of the event.

NOFU's new fire exhibit in action at Bushplane Days © Parks Canada

If you are in the Sault area, there is still time to catch the Parks Canada fire exhibit at the Bushplane Heritage Centre. It will be staying there through the fall season, then making its way on to other venues in Northern Ontario. Once you’ve seen our exhibit, don’t forget to send your thoughts on the lenticular, or any other aspect of our new exhibit, to our social media channels.

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