Fire prevention and department news for Hornby Island Fire Rescue
I’m sad to announce that we have to cancel this year’s camp due to the lack of senior firefighters available to lead the sessions. Several of us will be off the island, and the remaining crew will be busy with their regular day jobs.
It has been suggested that we try to schedule something for the first week or two of summer vacation. This will depend on how the province’s fire season shapes up. Stay tuned for more info on that.
Sorry for bringing you this disappointing news.
HIFR is thrilled to present this year’s Halloween fireworks show. The fuse will be lit at 8PM sharp on October 31. Once again, Outer Island B&B has graciously offered their field for the event.
The best spot for viewing the display will be on DePape Road, near the intersection of Porpoise, close to the water tank.
Effective noon on Thursday Sept 25, we will be lifting the burning ban. Both Campfires and backyard burn piles will be allowed, but category 3 (machine built) fires are still disallowed.
Campfires are a half meter, or less, in diameter and used for cooking, warmth, or ceremony. Please use water to extinguish your campfire. Burying it in sand leaves a very hot pit which can give a person or animal a nasty burn.
If you are planning a backyard brush pile, please call the non-emergency number at the fire hall (250.335.2611) and leave your name, contact number, and address so we have an idea of how many fires are burning on the island.
To report an illegal or dangerous fire, please call 911
TLDR: No chainsaw ban at noon (Sep 8)
Last night we had some hyper-localized light rain. Shingle Spit is bone dry, but the roads are damp at the firehall. The roads and lawns may be damp this morning, but no moisture made it through the canopy.
I have backed off the fire hazard to “HIGH” and won’t implement the high-risk activity restrictions today. I highly recommend morning shift for any such activities, followed by a 30-minute fire watch. Best practice is to have water standing by.
A total fire ban remains in effect.
Unless we get some rain on Sunday, the restrictions will go into effect on Monday, Sep 8 at noon. Here is a list of the most common activities that are temporarily suspended:
Residential lawn mowing is not banned, but it should be accompanied by a working garden hose that can reach the entire area and a minimum 1-hour fire watch afterwards.
We understand that this creates a hardship on anyone who makes their living in the tree business. We also know it throws a kink into the plans of anyone who is working on getting their firewood ready for the fall. Implementing these restrictions is not something I take lightly, but considering our remoteness, I feel it is time.
Please call the firehall at 250.335.2611 if you have any questions.
The Coastal Fire Center of the BC Wildfire Service has put a campfire ban in effect beginning Thursday, July 17 at noon.
CSA and UL-certified propane fire rings are permitted. They can be identified by their lack of smoke, no sparks, and a consistent flame. If you see a fire on the island, and you are confident it isn’t a propane ring, please call 911 and ask for a duty officer investigation.
Miranda Johnson, Internal Communications Officer for the Ministry of Forests, wrote an excellent article about the Wildfire Risk Reduction project we conducted here on Hornby Island. She interviewed most of the people who were involved and did a great job of capturing what we were trying to accomplish.
“The success of the Hornby Island project stands as a testament not only to its innovative and climate-conscious approach to wildfire resilience but also to the power of value-driven collaboration with local leadership and the community.”
I’m proud of how the project turned out, and I believe it is an example of how to do this type of work on Hornby and in other coastal communities.
The “wetting down” ceremony is a long-standing tradition dating back to the days of horse-drawn fire trucks. In those days, the firefighters would unhook the truck from the horses, wash it, and then push it into the garage by hand. It became a tradition that fire departments follow whenever a new apparatus arrives.
After a two-year process, Hornby Island’s new fire truck is ready to go into service, and we are inviting the community to come and watch the ceremony. It will take place at the beginning of our regular Thursday evening training on May 29 at 1930 sharp. We expect it to take about 20 – 30 minutes, after which we will be off to a simulated trail rescue drill.
If you have a few minutes to come see the new rig, we would love to see you there. The chief and probably a few others will be there from 1830 to show off our newest apparatus.
Considering the drying conditions and the prospect of a nasty fire season, we will soon be requiring permits for all burns bigger than a campfire. Permits are free and can be obtained by calling the fire hall at 250.335.2611. Someone will come to inspect your burn pile on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.
The HIFR member who comes to see your backyard burn pile will want to see the following:
Any burn piles containing logs or stumps are considered category III piles and require: