Manitouwadge Residents And Homes Endangered By HUMAN Caused Fire Yesterday

MANITOUWADGE, ON – At approximately 12:30pm (noon) yesterday (Tuesday, September 11th) Manitouwadge Fire Department received a call of a bush fire behind Matachewan Road.

OntarioNewsNorth.com spoke with Manitouwadge resident Daniel Charron who said that he, and friend Katie Tuomi, were on the mountain landing which overlooks the community when they spotted and reported the fire behind Matachewan Road just past Perry Lake. “It was pretty small and then just minutes later it really [expanded]” said Charron of what he and Tuomi had seen from their vantage point.

Upon receiving the call Fire Chief Owen Cranney and his fire crew attended the scene as did the MNR “We were very fortunate that the MNR had their Twin Otter Water Bomber at the airport and right away they dumped 4 loads” said Cranney. When Cranney and crews arrived they observed the bush fire getting into the tree tops. The MNR also put a fire crew down at the fire via helicopter, on the side opposite the Manitouwadge Fire Department. Both crews worked cooperatively to extinguish the fire. “It was a long hot afternoon” said Cranney in regards to conditions at the fire which is confirmed to have been human caused. Investigation of the scene found a small fire pit which had been improperly extinguished had caused the fire which could have had much more dire results had it not been reported so quickly as fire hazard conditions are currently extreme and winds were significant yesterday.

Approximately 0.1Ha of forest was consumed by the fire in the apprxomately 5 hours it burned.

Officers from the Manitouwadge Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police had to attend the scene, providing traffic and bystander control, where the township fire truck was parked to access the hydrant as residents drove over the trucks hose (which was being used by firefighters putting them in very real danger), other people walked into the bush trying to get a closer look, and yet other parked or drove their vehicles to close to the scene obstructing travel of emergency and firefighting personnel. Fire Chief Owen Cranney reminds residents that in situations like these, though people may  think it harmless to try and get a closer look, they can be putting themselves and fire crews or other emergency personnel at risk and that they may even be slowing or preventing fire suppression efforts “If the water bomber sees bystanders to close they will not dump” explained Cranney.

Residents are reminded to please obey fire restrictions, when the fire hazard is extreme as it is now, campfires should not be lit in the bush, cigarettes if smoked while walking should be extinguished into a water bottle or other container which is kept on your person until out of the bush where you can dispose of it properly (or even better – don’t smoke at all while in the bush during this very dry time). While on the landing which overlooks the community,  photographing the area OntarioNewsNorth.com Editor Karina Hunter even observed that ‘campfires’ had recently been burned there – when this information was shared with the fire chief he pointed out that people should consider that there is no access to water on top of the mountain should a fire get out of control.  PLEASE be cautious while enjoying the outdoors, our community and its residents deserve better than to be put at risk for a couple marshmallows or a weenie-roast! During Extreme Fire Hazard Conditions as there are now, people should NOT be burning campfires in the bush for any reason!

RELATED LINKS

• For more information about how the MNR fights forest CLICK HERE
• Fire Chief Owen Cranney speaks about Manitouwadge’s Emergency Preparedness Plan (Video)
• Learn more about Manitouwadge’s Emergency Plan and evacuation protocol

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Posted in Environment, Forestry, Manitouwadge/Marathon, MNR FIRE INFO, Municipal, Northern Ontario Headlines, Regional, Safety | Comments Off on Manitouwadge Residents And Homes Endangered By HUMAN Caused Fire Yesterday

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