The Citizen, 2015-05-07, Page 9THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015. PAGE 9.
Continued from page 7
with one or two bunker suits,
complete with breathing apparatus,
they are better prepared to deal with
bush fires, which, Scrimgeour says,
can quickly take on a life of their
own, especially in the dry areas of
Mexico.
It isn’t just the equipment that has
transformed how firefighting is
handled in a number of Mexican
communities, however.
Scrimgeour organized a meeting
between the members of a number
of area fire departments and it was
the first time they had
communicated with one another.
Having been involved with the
Blyth Area Fire Board years ago,
Scrimgeour was involved in the
establishment of the mutual aid
program as it’s known today. He
applied those same principles to the
fighting of fires in Mexico.
Representatives of the various fire
departments now meet once a
month, Scrimgeour said.
“We changed the whole system,”
Scrimgeour said. “They loved it. I’ve
been invited into so many suppers
with so many fire departments.”
A new program has also been
established that allowed a small
group of young boys and girls to
learn about the world of firefighting
and they are taught skills that will
help them as they grow up, either in
the world of firefighting or beyond.
Getting the equipment from
Canada to Mexico, however, was not
easy, Scrimgeour said, as it was
stalled very early on.
After months of inaction,
Scrimgeour eventually went to the
Canadian Embassy and had a
meeting with the Canadian
ambassador, who would eventually
be instrumental in the success of the
program.
In terms of the project’s growth,
however, Scrimgeour says it’s
simply taken off since equipment
began being delivered. He says it’s
now moving at a pace that even he
couldn’t have predicted.
He hopes that the program will
now involve an annual shipment to
Mexico through the organization
created called the Lakeside Fire and
Red Cross Assistance Group, which
will now carry out the initiative in
Mexico.
While Doug and Diane had been
involved with a godparents’ program
in Mexico when they first began
spending time there 10 years ago,
Doug says his work with Mexican
firefighters has been the most
rewarding time of his life and he
hopes to see it continue to grow.
Continued from page 1
release said they have the right.
“I don’t believe they have any
legal right and we could end up
paying if someone is injured
because of that,” he said.
Seip asked if the municipality had
any legal recourse to send the group
notice that North Huron is not in
favour of the announcement.
“We can’t change what people put
in a press release, our intent here is
to make sure we mitigate our risk,”
he said.
Vincent said he would like to see
council make a motion that, until
liability can be confirmed with
insurance or coverage, the sections
of the trail that North Huron has a
lease for in Morris-Turnberry are
closed.
Council passed the motion with
Director of Recreation and Facilities
Pat Newson being directed to put up
signs to that effect as soon as
possible.
When asked, Newson said the
signs could be up as early as May 6.
Prior to the motion being passed,
Newson had asked for the
opportunity for staff to go and
review the trail to make sure that
existing signage was up at the North
Huron end of the trail. Staff had
never worried about the Morris-
Turnberry end of the trail because it
was unused from the east end.
She also informed council that
they couldn’t do much except put up
a sign and possibly barricade the
ends, as the trail borders on private
property, so a fence was out of the
question.
Vincent explained a fence
wouldn’t be necessary as the signs
are the equivalent of a closed-road
sign.
“Someone going past them does
so at their own peril,” he said.
A second motion was made to
have Newson set up a meeting with
the Huron County Planning
Department and a representative of
the G2G Committee to discuss their
plans to open the trail.
While the opening of the trail was
paramount in Vincent’s report, he
said he was also concerned with
some comments made from G2G
members from Huron County.
Vincent had heard, in a recent
radio show, G2G members talk
about how the whole trail will be
available to those walking, hiking,
bicycling and on saddle horses.
North Huron, when opening and
maintaining the Greenway Trail, had
made the decision not to allow
saddle horses on it.
“They can be just as bad as four-
wheelers for tearing up a hiking or
walking trail,” Vincent said. “That
was what got my adrenaline flowing
so I called Del Property
Management. The one big issue
with that comment is we are
strongly in favour of people using
the trail for hiking, walking and
other uses but we don’t want
motorized vehicles or saddle
horses.”
Newson to set G2G meeting
Project equips Mexican firefighters, continues to grow
Making a difference
Dozens of Mexican firefighters are now fully equipped with clothing and equipment thanks to
an initiative started by Blyth’s Doug Scrimgeour, who spends half of his time south of the
American border. Above, firefighters can be seen donning suits from the Toronto Fire
Department while fighting a fire, while below, the City of Toronto suits make another
appearance, this time at a motor vehicle accident. (Photos courtesy of the Lakeside Fire and Red Cross
Assistance Group)
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