On January 16, 1924, Lands and Forest Minister James W. Lyons submitted a memorandum to the Ontario Cabinet regarding the purchase of thirteen new Curtiss HS2L Flying Boats (H-boats). He recommended that the Flying Boats be purchased and that a Provincial Organization be created for the purpose of forest fire patrolling and timber surveying.

The Cabinet gave its approval for the purchase of the aircraft and for the foundation of the Ontario Provincial Air Service. It is quite possible that the members of the Cabinet were sensitive to Lyons' request due to a huge fire that had occurred in Haileybury in 1922. The fire killed 44 people and cost millions of dollars in property damage.

On February 19, 1924, Roy Maxwell resigned as vice president and managing director of Laurentide Air Service to accept a job with the Department of Lands and Forests. He was in charge of organizing an air branch for the department. After a problem with the original H-Boat provider, Maxwell's old company Laurentide was contracted to assemble them. Much to Laurentide's dismay, Maxwell extensively recruited both pilots and engineers from Laurentide.

Fire towers and ranger patrols were common methods of forest fire detection, but they were very slow. Often a fire would be out of control before enough rangers could be transported to the scene. The history of the Ontario Provincial Air Service cannot be fully covered by this page, though we will attempt to give a summary of important historic events in point form. A very interesting book about the Service's history is Bruce West's The Firebirds*. His book was used extensively in our research of the Ontario Provincial Air Service.

O.P.A.S. History

• In 1924 Ontario Provincial Air Service was founded.
  
  
• Some of the original pilots were C.S. Caldwell, Tommy Thompson, Harry Wiltshire, Rod Ross, Clarke Ruse, C.J. "Doc" Clayton, Fred Stevenson, Carter Guest, G.A. Stevens, Romeo Vachon*, Leigh Brintell, Pat Maloney, Ed Burton, Terry Tully, L.J. Tripp*, Harold Foley, C.A. "Duke" Schiller. H.A. "Doc" Oaks*, Jack Leach, W.H. "Hec" Ptolmey, Buck Buchanan and R.E. Nicholl.
  
  
• The original observers were W.H. "Dusey" Kearns, George Delahey, Ernie Wilson, Archie McEwen, Doug Murray, Dick Gilbert, Jack O'Gorman, John Carl Vokes, Jack Judd, Leonard Braden, Don Solandt, Don Marritt and Monty Baker. (An observer is a person who accompanied the pilot, scanning for fires and doing survey sketches.)
  
  
• The first rigger/fitter (mechanics) group was Jack Hyde, Geordie Doan, John Sherbourne, Jim Phillips, J.M. "Knobby" Clarke, Dick Fraser, Sam Tomlinson*, Tommy Siers*, Arthur Simard, Bill Hughes, R.L. Briggs, Sam McCauley, Peter Dow, K.A. McBride, Albert Hutt*, Gordon Hutt, Bill Chapman, Les Failles, Art Denning, Al Cheesman and George Thompson.
  
  
• In 1924, Baker discovered a fire and transmitted the information to Sudbury base. This was the first time air-to-ground radio was used successfully to report a fire.
  
  
• In 1924, 2595 flying hours were logged, covering approximately 170000 air miles. During the season a total of 597 forest fires were reported from the air.
  
  
• Sault Ste. Marie was chosen as headquarters for the O.P.A.S., and in the winter of 1924-1925, hangar construction began.
  
  
  HS-2L's at site of O.P.A.S. in Sault Ste. Marie prior to construction of hanger - Fall 1924.
  
  
• In the fall of 1925 O.P.A.S. flew its first "mercy" flight. It flew in provisions to Red Lake where many prospectors had congregated to search for gold. These prospectors had not properly planned their trips and without the Air Service their supplies would have been exhausted.
  
  
• In 1925, 2738 hours and 37 minutes were flown in 1312 flights.
  
  
• In 1926 Doc Oaks* and Tommy Thompson left the service to launch a new enterprise called Patricia Exploration and Transportation Syndicate. Oaks later went on the found Western Canada Airways which evolved into the organization known as Canadian Pacific Air.
  
  
• In 1927, the O.P.A.S. received their first of 16 DH60 Moths*, which allowed for winter operations to begin. They replaced the H-boats as the workhorse of the O.P.A.S.
  
  
• In 1928, the O.P.A.S. bought a DH61 "Giant Moth" for cargo transport.
  
  
• In 1929, in addition to the Moths and the H-boats, the O.P.A.S. also owned a Vickers Vedette amphibian and a Hamilton seaplane.
  
  
• In 1937 Stinson Reliants* were purchased.
  
  
• In 1944 Noorduyn Norsemen* were purchased.
  
  
• In 1944 experiments with aerial fire suppression "water bombing" began.
  
  
• In 1953 DeHavilland Otter* were purchased.
  
  
• In 1965 turboprop version of DeHavilland Beaver (Turbo-Beaver) were purchased.
  
  
• In 1966 Twin Otters* were purchased.
  
  
• In 1970 Grumman Trackers* were acquired from Canadian Navy.
  
  
• In 1983 Canadair CL-215 was purchased.

Many of the pilots from the original Air Service left it to pursue commercial ventures. The training that the Ontario Provincial Air Service provided them benefited Canadian aviation enormously. Commercial bush air services generally followed the O.P.A.S.'s lead in the purchase of aircraft, and often the commercial outfits bought aircraft from the O.P.A.S. Many Beavers that are still flying today began their lives with the O.P.A.S.