4 www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Fall 2023 LAND & FORESTS Fighting Fire With WhatsApp At the beginning of this summer, the threat of fire in the Georgian Bay area was high, and a fire ban had been issued across the province. It looked like we were in for a nerve-racking summer. And then it rained. And rained some more. Nevertheless, a number of our member associations found themselves fighting fires on islands in the north and the south of the Bay, and some interesting learnings have come out of these experiences. The first fire took place in the South Channel Association (SCA) area in early July, in Massasauga Provincial Park, Devil's Elbow access point. Smoke was first seen at 6:10 p.m., and a call went out over the SCA WhatsApp emergency group. Within 15 minutes, five fire pumps were on their way to the site, and the fire was contained before 7 p.m. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) helicopter arrived shortly after and stayed overnight to watch for hot spots. A similar story happened in the Bay of Islands (BICA) at the end of July, when a sauna caught fire in the middle of the afternoon. Smoke was first spotted just before 3 p.m., and communicated over the BICA WhatsApp fire pump group. The first pump was on site within 20 minutes, with 10 pumps on the scene by 3:30 p.m. By the time the MNRF helicopter flew by less than 10 minutes later, the fire had already been extinguished. Here are some of the key lessons learned from these incidents: ≥ Social media networks such as WhatsApp can be an effective way to get word out quickly to many people. ≥ At the same time, it is important to keep the social media channels clear from non-emergency chatter. SCA manages this by having two separate WhatsApp threads: one for reporting emergencies, and another for those willing to respond to them. ≥ If there's an emergency, call 911 or 310-FIRE right away. ≥ As soon as the fire is located, someone should send the fire’s location to responders, e.g., using a Google map pin or what3words. ≥ Having a network of fire pumps across as many islands as possible is crucial to a rapid response, regardless of where the fire is happening. ≥ Conduct an inventory of fire pumps in your area, and make sure that hoses are compatible in case additional length is required. Couplers can be purchased for this purpose. ≥ Have a map of where all local fire pumps are located. ≥ Fire responders should wear appropriate fire-fighting gear, such as long pants, boots, and work gloves. No shorts, bare feet, or sandals! ≥ Bring tools such as rakes and shovels. Take some time to think about how you can reduce the risk of fire around your cottage. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. FireSmart Canada has updated information about the Home Ignition Zone (HIZ) you can read about here: bit.ly/FireSmartHIZ The content of this article is not advice and is intended for informational purposes only. Reliance on any information provided in this article is solely at your own risk and GBA does not warrant or represent any aspect of any information and shall not be held liable if a reader of it suffers any injury or loss after relying upon such information. GBA does not warrant or represent that any information or resources referred to in the article will be constantly available, or available at all, or that they are accurate, complete, current or non-misleading. By Liz Phillips, GBA President, and Stephen Sprague, GBA Vice President
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