Fire Evacuation Unnecessary for North Addington

Craig Bakay | Jun 14, 2023

Rumours of evacuation orders for Denbigh during last week’s forest fire were just that — rumours, Fire Chief and CEMC Casey Cuddy told Addington Highlands Council June 6 at its regular meeting in Flinton.

“There is no disaster in Addington Highlands and never was,” he said. “And no risk of evacuation.

“A lot of people panicked because of misinformation on social media and the smoke coming mainly from wildfires in Quebec.”

Cuddy said he spoke to the OPP and they released no such warning on social media and a map supposedly showing an evacuation area was incorrect.

“We did send some firefighters to assist the MNRF at Centennial Lake,” he said.

“Who would authorize an evacuation?” asked Reeve Henry Hogg.

“The emergency control group if it’s in an area under municipal jurisdiction,” Cuddy said. “The MNRF may recommend such actions.”

Later on in the meeting, CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed read an email from Vennachar area resident Marlene Rosenblath recalling the great fire in late April of 1903 that devasted the hamlet.

Rosenblath said the area has never really recovered and requested that camping be restricted in the area due to the fire risk from logging activities and the derecho blow down covering the forest floor and making potential fire fighting a difficult business.

“I took a drive on Sunday and there is definitely a fire hazard in the area,” said Dep. Reeve Tony Fritsch. “And it’s not the only one.”

“They didn’t have water bombers back then (1903) or gas/diesel for pumps,” said Cuddy. “Having said that there is potential but it was in April and there was no green up yet.”

“You can’t restrict camping in one area, you have to do it for the entire Township,” said Hogg. “And you can’t enforce a camping ban anyways.”

“In my experience, restricting camping access just drives people further into the bush and then you get a fire that’s more difficult to fight,” Cuddy said.

Coun. Ken Hook asked about fining anyone who lights a fire during a fire ban.

“We can issue fines but we usually don’t,” Cuddy said. “For one thing, our costs in court fees and such usually exceeds the fine by four or five times.

“But we can tell people to put it out or we’ll put it out for them and then they’ll get a bill, which far exceeds a fine.

“They’ll get a bill for suppressing the fire and if it requires water bombers, they cost about $4,000 per hour.”

Atm homes remain

While Council has accepted that there likely isn’t anything they can do to stop the Bank of Montreal from leaving Northbrook, they are still hopeful they can persuade the bank into leaving an ATM in the community, possibly leaving one with whomever buys the building. If not, Council is prepared to make some space available in a municipal facility (or the Lions Club, etc) and instructed staff to send a letter to the Bank of Montreal advising them of such.

“Would we as a Township be able to find such a spot?” said Coun. Helen Yanch.

“I believe so,” said Reeve Henry Hogg.

Newsletter

Council approved the newsletter that will go out with tax notices but CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed noted that the emails listed for Council will likely be changed by the time residents get the newsletter.

“I noticed that the most obvious phone number is mine,” said Reeve Henry Hogg.

Bird Netting

Council approved awarding the contract for bird netting at the Flinton Arena to Greenshield Pest Control at a cost of $27,055 at the recommendation of the Chief Building Official.

Roofing at Medical Centre

Council awarded the contract for repairs to the Northbrook Medical Centre roof (about half the roof needs re-shingling) to Dafoe Roofing for $17,440.

Fee waived

Council voted to waive a minor variance fee of $1,100 for the Lions Club of Land O’Lakes to build a shed for the Farmers Market.

CAO/Clerk-Treasurer Christine Reed said that in her opinion Council could do this because the Lions Club is a non-commercial entity.

However, she said, it does set a precedent in that they’d probably have to do the same for any other non-commercial entity requesting it.

The Lions Club is the only service club in Addington Highlands.