Fire_department_saves

Jeff Green | May 04, 2006

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K/B fire department saves house from brush fire

by Jeff Green

Two and a half hectares of land near Hwy. 41 north of Cloyne were burned up by a brush fire on Monday afternoon.

Fire crews were alerted just after 5:00, and upon arriving at the scene just north of Cloyne Home Hardware, they found flames “licking at the back of a house,” according to Kaladar/Barrie fire Chief Casey Cuddy. Nineteen firefighters got to work pushing the fire back from the house. Once the house was secure they began to address the back end of the fire, and the entire fire was brought under control within two hours of the crew’s arrival at the scene.

While the cause of the fire has not yet been determined, conditions in the area are very dry. In fact, Casey Cuddy had been talking to North Frontenac Fire Chief Steve Riddell earlier in the day about the possibility of imposing a total fire ban within the two townships because the MNR fire rating for the area had reached 20, just below the extreme level. With rain promised for later in the week, Riddell and Cuddy decided not to put on a fire ban at this time.

“There have been a number of grass fires in the area within the past month,” said Chief Cuddy, “including one on Hwy. 7 that destroyed a blueberry stand and left the township with a $4,000 firefighting bill.”

Residents are urged to keep in mind that all daytime burning is prohibited between April 1 and October 31 in all local townships, with the exception of fires within burn barrels that are properly set up.

Improper burn barrels have been responsible for a number of recent fires. Information about burn barrel rules can be found at the following web address: http://www.mazinaw.on.ca/addington/WFbrochure.pdf.