Fire Departments throughout Muskoka were kept busy yesterday (May 12) with multiple calls for service.
At approximately 11:30am, the Huntsville/Lake of Bays Fire Department responded to a home on Fairyview Drive in Huntsville for a fire on the exterior of the building. The quick actions of a neighbor who had spotted the fire kept the fire from spreading into the attic space and allowed crews to fully extinguish the fire and keep it contained to the exterior of the home. The cause is suspected to be from improperly disposed smoking materials which had ignited the grass and spread to the building. Damage was estimated at $5000.
On Thursday afternoon, fire crews along with Ministry of Natural Resources battled a large brush fire approximately 4 hectares size in the Raven Lake area of Lake of Bays. This fire was caused by a contractor burning during restricted hours. Charges are pending in this fire. The Ministry of Natural Resources brought in water bombers to assist in controlling the blaze.
At approximately 2:30pm, crews from Station 1 were dispatched to a rail car on fire on Aspdin Rd. in Huntsville. The rail car was carrying wooden railway ties and the fire was quickly extinguished by the fire crews. While this fire was being extinguished, crews from Station 3 in Port Sydney were dispatched to a grass fire along the CNR tracks near Lone Pine Drive and Stephenson Road 1 along with crews from Bracebridge Fire. This fire spread to cover an area of approximately 2 hectares in size. It is suspected that the burning rail car in Huntsville caused spot fires along the CNR tracks throughout Muskoka. CN Rail continues to investigate the cause.
Muskoka Fire Prevention would like to remind residents to use caution when disposing of smoking materials and ensuring that they adhere to the “No Daytime Burning” regulations that are in place. At this time of year, dry conditions can cause fires to quickly spread out of control as we had witnessed yesterday. Please ensure that any campfires are fully extinguished before leaving them. Please check with your local Municipality on any burning restrictions and call 1- 877-847-1577 for the daily Fire Danger Rating.
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I saw the fires along hwy 11 coming north from the Muskoka visitation center. I saw two sets of fires just south of the Gravenhurst cut off. With the news out of Fort McMurray Alberta, I was quite scared that wildfires had erupted in Muskoka.
The same burning railway car caused a fire just south of Gravenhurst which resulted in Hwy 11 at Gravenhurst South end being shut down for two hours. Then it went on to cause the fires north of Bracebridge and at Huntsville. The train obviously travelled right through downtown Gravenhurst and downtown Bracebridge.
The big mystery is that no one in either town saw that it was on fire !!
How weird is that? !