Hornby Island Fire Rescue

There was an incident just before midnight last night near Mushroom Beach at Helliwell Provincial Park. Two fellows had problems with their boat motor and were just able to limp into the sandstone shelves north of the beach. They refused help from the fire department, choosing instead to weather out the night close to their boat.

In the morning they discovered their boat had been beat up on the rocks, the motor had come off the boat and sunk, and the gas can was no where to be seen. Apparently wallets, keys, and some other personal items are also sleeping with the fishes, as they say.

We have the fireworks at the fire hall and HIFR members are getting together on Sunday afternoon to fuse them and get them all ready to go. Weather permitting they’ll be set off at the Outer Island farm field at 8PM sharp.

We encourage you to stay outside of the fence and the best viewing area will near the water tank at the corner of Porpoise and Depape.

I just got the latest newsletter from the Coastal Fire Center which contains a lot of great information about what makes up the various categories of burn piles.

Is your pile a category III or category II? Did you know that you are legally obliged to only light up your burn pile if the venting index is “good”?

If you plan on burning a pile of waste in your backyard please have a look at this newsletter.

Our end-of-summer barbecue was held last week and was mainly a retirement party to honour Iain Palmer’s 31 years of service to our community.

Iain was one member of the team that began our First Responder program back when sick people were being driven off island in the back of a station wagon. He was instrumental in acquiring our first ambulance.

He then went on to do our fire inspections and served as public safety officer. Iain is one of those people who doesn’t say a lot, but when he does speak up it’s always worth paying attention to. Thank you to Iain for his many years of public service and for his even keel and wise words.

Effective noon Wednesday September 19, 2018, backyard burning will be allowed in the Coastal Fire Service jurisdiction. The notice which can be reached by clicking on the image below reinforces some best practices.

• Local bylaws are in place which means that permits are required for all backyard burning until conditions improve some more.
• Please check the venting index and avoid burning on windy days. The venting index can be reached by clicking on the venting index image on the right.
• Please ensure that you have tools such as shovels and water at hand to help manage your fire.
• For all permits or any questions please call the firehall at 335-2611 and we would be happy to help you with your call.

With the arrival of the fall rain, we can breathe a collective sigh of relief as the forest fire danger has eased considerably.

Safe campfires, the use of wood stoves for heating, and chainsaw and lawn mowing are now allowed again.

Burn piles are still prohibited and permits will not be issued until we get the required update from the province. We will update the website on an ongoing basis so be sure to check back regularly.

HIFR was recently asked about accepting donations to our volunteer fund in memory of one of our most recent patients; Vickie MacDonald. Her family (husband Ian, and children Mike and Allison) have asked if we could create a way to donate to our volunteer fund in memory of Vickie.

You can visit our Volunteer Fund page to find out ways to donate or click on the link below.

Thank you to the MacDonald family and all supporters for their generosity.

HIFR Volunteer Fund 

Yesterday our duty officer responded to a smoldering log at the parking lot at Little Trib.  Someone had put out a cigarette on the crispy dry red cedar log that marks the parking area. A nice on-shore breeze fanned the embers and it spread into the log.

Right beside the log is a metal can for disposing of cigarette butts. On the other side of the log is a quarter acre of dry grass. Downwind of the log are really dry scrubby beach shrubs and four homes. When I visited the site today I found 6-8 cigarette butts that looked less than a week old in the grass.

Little Trib beach access is highways land and it is legal to smoke there. However, those logs at the edge of the parking lot border on very dry and flammable private land. Please, if you use that log for a get-together or for just enjoying the view use the metal can for your butts.  Perhaps consider moving down onto the gravel beach when smoking.  That way if an ember falls onto the ground it won’t light up the dry grass.

Also please let others, who may not be following social media, know the importance of being safe with cigarettes.

Effective noon on July 30 we are implementing restrictions on high risk activities. These activities include chainsaw usage, lawn mowing, brush cutting with metal blades, and land clearing. Nylon string weed trimmers are allowed as they are unlikely to create a spark.

For more information on which activities are allowed and which are restricted please refer to the Wildfire BC page.

If you witness someone engaging in one of the risky activities you can call the Fire Patrol cell phone at 250.703.1792 or the Fire Hall at 250.335.2611. If you choose to inform the operator yourself please be kind. They may not be aware of the restrictions.  Entering into a confrontation benefits no one.

It’s been a pretty good run for campfires this year but this heat has dried up any moisture in the ground and the BC Ministry of Forests has declared a campfire ban. The ban comes into effect on Wed, July 18 at noon.

CSA approved propane appliances are still allowed as are briquette barbecues. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.