It’s not the type of thing you expect to see when driving through town late at night. At about 11:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 11, Steve Rowan, who sometimes has a hard time sleeping, was out for a drive. On Brunel Road, near Huntsville High School, he came across a hay bale holding an election sign for mayoral candidate Peggy Peterson—and the hay bale was on fire.
A tow truck driver had already emptied the fire extinguisher he carries with him, and Rowan says he was about to race home to get his when an OPP officer arrived and used the extinguisher in his cruiser to douse the remaining flames.
There was no need for them to call out the fire department at that point, but Rowan notes it could have turned out differently. “With the wind as strong as it was, once the hay was able to blow around, it could have gotten a lot worse. Thankfully, the ground and the leaves around the hay bale were quite wet.”
He expressed disappointment that someone would set the bale ablaze.
“Some disrespectful individual had again damaged something that wasn’t theirs,” he says. “I grew up in this town, from the age of 16, and have watched the level of disrespect steadily raise over the past 28 years. It’s really getting out of hand.”
An OPP representative confirmed that an officer helped to extinguish the fire and, as there was no suspect and no evidence, no further action was taken.
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Agreed, Rob. Political thuggery (if that is what it was) is for those too ignorant or too stupid to engage in reasoned debate.
Disgraceful and unlawful! I have heard of several election signs uprooted during this campaign. It’s fine to be engaged in the political process; but attending the debates, speaking with the candidates, reading the Doppler articles, and making your vote count are responsible, legal responses. Dangerous, cowardly actions have no place in Huntsville, or anywhere else.