P.E.I. communities meet to discuss fire safety in wake of Maritime wildfires
Some Islanders are asking for more communication from officials about what they can do to reduce the risk of wildfires, as forest fires continue in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
On Tuesday morning, about two dozen people attended a public meeting in Cavendish, P.E.I., with municipal staff and officials from Parks Canada.
"After seeing what is going on in Nova Scotia and across the country, it could happen anywhere. Our backyard is ready to go up in flames. That's how I feel," said Bonnie Arnold, who lives in Cavendish.
Arnold said she worries downed trees around her property from post-tropical storm Fiona could fuel a fire — but she is hopeful Parks Canada will help limit the risk.
"I was very glad to hear someone from Parks Canada will come over and assess our property to see what should be done to prevent any fires in the area because we are adjacent to the national park," she said.
It's not just those in Cavendish worried about the potential of a wildfire.
About 100 people attended a public meeting Monday night on P.E.I.'s North Shore including staff from Parks Canada, the province and the rural municipality.
"It's really a worry honestly, like even my wife, she's scared skinny that there's gonna be a fire, we're gonna lose our house and not only our house, but all the homes in the immediate area," said Buck Watts, who lives in Grand Tracadie, P.E.I.
"It's really important to me that we get straight answers for this."
Many of the concerns raised were about trees downed during Fiona and how they could fuel a fire. Parks Canada officials said they're continuing to clean up debris from the storm, while preparing for what could happen if warm, dry conditions continue.
"With Fiona and the blow down on the Island, it's certainly put the spotlight on the fire risk here. The reality is there's always been a fire risk on the Island. Parks Canada has definitely recognized that," said Scott Murphy, national fire management officer with Parks Canada.
"We have a current fire management plan in place. It talks about a potential for fire. It talks about how we're going to prevent fires, what we're going to do to prepare for them, how we're going to respond to them."
Parks Canada crews are preparing equipment to use in case a fire breaks out.
"We have our fire management trailers… so that's where we hold our fuel and extra tools should we need extra stuff. Also in this compound we have our response vehicles, they're hooked up to our water for quick deploy situations," said Robyn Caissie, visitor safety fire operations coordinator for Parks Canada.
"We have an F150 truck and it's attached to a trailer and on the back of the trailer a 5,400 gallon water tank… that's how we pull water to be able to kind of get into the areas that fire trucks can't. It's smaller, so it is easier to maneuver some of the landscapes we have here."
Staff are moving equipment from Dalvay and staging it in the Cavendish and Stanhope areas, Caissie said.
"All of our pumps and hoses have already been tested. I am going to go ahead and test our sprinkler system for structure protection, then we are ready to go."
Officials said the comments and concerns raised in both meetings will be taken into account while working through the fire risk reduction strategy.
"We hear the concerns of the residents. We share those concerns," Murphy said.
