It’s grass fire season in Cape Breton
Intentionally set fires take toll on crews, resources
Cape Breton firefighters have been busy this week handling a high number of intentionally set fires.
In the municipality on Monday, there were 11 departments responding to 43 calls.
Chris March, deputy fire chief of the Cape Breton Regional Fire Services, said the grass and brush fires pose a significant risk to volunteer crews and the community.
“Brush fires turn into forest fires,” said
March. “We really have to get together as a municipality and try to stop this.
“We didn’t have a lot of snow accumulation this year, so the ground isn’t really saturated. There’s not a lot of moisture in the ground.”
March predicts this year could be the worst grass fire season in two or three years.
“There’s a misnomer out there for the adults that if you burn the grass it comes back even greener and healthier, but it doesn’t,” he said.
“When you burn the grass, you kill valuable nutrients in the soil.”
Although there are many who feel that grass fires can be kept under control, March said a sudden change in wind can increase the intensity of the burn and its direction.
“There’s been firefighters injured and fatally wounded because of simple grass fires around North America.
“If there was a structure fire in the middle of the night, it’s the same volunteers that respond.
“Those guys and gals are going to be very tired because putting out grass fires with that protective gear on in the heat is exhausting.”
March said parents should talk to their children about the dangers of grass fires. He also advises that anyone who discovers burning brush call 911 right away.
Thomas Simon, a full-time firefighter in Eskasoni, said he was called to a dozen fires in one shift a few weeks ago.
“It’s starting to become a ritual,” said Simon. “I’ve been here eight or nine years, and every year it’s going to the same places.
“It’s understandable that some kids or teenagers don’t listen and they’re going to cause fires but it’s something else when adults are doing it.”
Simon said past experiences have proven that homes can be damaged when fire spreads.
Officials with the Department of Natural Resources are warning that a mild winter has increased the risk of wildfires this year.
On Tuesday, burning restrictions were in place across the province, with full bans in place in Inverness, Antigonish, Annapolis, Guysborough, Kings and Queens counties.
The website www.novascotia. ca/BurnSafe provides a snapshot of where domestic burning of brush and campfires are permitted or restricted. Burning restrictions apply until Oct. 15.
According to the provincial statistics, there were 174 wild fires recorded last year between March and October. That figure includes 30 fires in Cape Breton County resulting in the burning of 53.5 hectares.
Department officials stress that no domestic burning is permitted anywhere in the province between the hours of 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day.
If an area is shown in green, burning is permitted from 2 p.m. through to 8 a.m. If it is shown in yellow, burning is permitted between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. If the area is red, burning is not allowed.
Incendiary device fires were found to be the single largest cause of fires across Nova Scotia in last year at 672 fires while debris fires were the second largest cause with 39 reported.