Amid Maritime forest fires, P.E.I. takes steps to prevent more
Prince Edward Island remains the only Maritime province not fighting forest fires, but concerns are growing there.
In the wake of post-tropical storm Fiona, the island’s forests are filled with broken, dead, and dry trees – ample fuel.
That’s clear when you come into the P.E.I. National Park.
Fiona devastated trees in the park, but the damage isn’t done. The downed trees are now becoming a forest fire hazard beyond the normal fire management plan.
“Whenever you get a big event like this, you do need to hit the pause button and reevaluate where the specific risks lie,” said Scott Murphy, national fire manager with Parks Canada in the P.E.I. National Park.
The say staff are taking action in the park to mitigate that risk.
Parks Canada are also meeting with nearby communities to address their concerns.
“We hear their concerns, we understand the concerns, and we share those concerns in the park. Visitor safety is our number-one priority,” said Kim Gamble, P.E.I. National Park resource conservation manager.
The park is equipped with firefighting equipment, including hoses and chainsaws, to respond to forest fires.
Trees are knocked down, blown over, and broken by Fiona’s fury, slowly drying out as the warm weather starts.
The province has programs to clean up trees on public and private property, but the bottleneck is contractors, who have had more work than they can handle since the storm.
With that in mind, the province announced a $500,000 program Friday to train public servants as forest firefighters.
“If there’s somebody who works in any department in the provincial government and they want to get the training so they can help fight fires,” said Environment, Energy and Climate Action Minister Steven Myers. “Then we’ll train them, we’ll pay for them, and we’ll make sure that they can go fight fires and still get a paycheque.”
In addition, officials say they are pre-emptively cutting fire breaks to protect homes and communities on the island.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.