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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2009-04-23, Page 1Smokin’ Both the Brussels and Blyth Fire Departments were called to a shed fire, which began after fire spread from burning garbage, east of Blyth on Cranbrook Road late Friday afternoon. It was a long haul, but the crews subdued the fire. (Shawn Loughlin photo) Firefighters called as garbage fires spread to sheds The Avon Maitland District School Board will go on the road for its next two regular trustee meetings, as it seeks to boost its public image in two communities facing possible school closure. (See story on page 9) Tuesday,April 28, the trustees and senior administrators will be at Usborne Central Public School outside Exeter. Prior to that meeting, requests are being accepted for public delegations concerning the proposed plan to close Usborne Central, relocate Kindergarten-to- Grade 6 students to the in-town Exeter Public School, and shift Grades 7 and 8 students from both facilities to South Huron District High School. Then on Tuesday, May 12, a similar meeting will take place at Wingham Public School. In that case, administration has proposed closing Turnberry Central Public School, with K-6 students moving to Wingham Public and Grades 7 and 8s from both sites attending F.E. Madill Secondary School. Blyth Public School would also close as part of the same proposal, with all students from K-8 attending either Hullett Central Public School or East Wawanosh Public School. Moving the meetings out of the Seaforth headquarters of the Avon Maitland board “fits with the board’s past practice,” said education superintendent Mike Ash. “When a community is facing an accommodation review, trustees genuinely believe that the communities should have their say.” The established format for “delegations” in the Avon Maitland board is for members of the public to deliver presentations of five minutes or less in front of trustees. Trustees are then instructed to ask questions of clarification, but not to engage in discussion with the person delivering the delegation. No decision is made at the time of the delegation. Anyone interested in speaking to the proposals can call the board office at 519-527-0111, ext. 106. CitizenTh e $1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, April 23, 2009 Volume 25 No. 16HEALTH- Pg. 12Seaforth tries todemystify system THEATRE - Pg. 23 Mary Lou to raise fundsfor FoundationSPORTS- Pg. 8Wingham curlers take hometrophiesPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 PAP Registration No. 09244 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK: AMDSB taking its show on the road By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen High precipitation last fall and winter has contributed to slight increases in lake levels on Huron. Levels are up several centimetres above where they were this time last year. “Water levels are now above the 176 metre level, which is the critical threshold for cargo ship transportation on Lake Huron. Levels below that mark means that shipping companies need to lighten their loads in order to navigate Seaway ports on the lake,” noted Geoff Peach, coastal resources manager with the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation. Significant precipitation led to increases in the lake's level despite high evaporation during the winter due to the lack of ice cover, which usually helps to weaken evaporation rates. “We’ve seen levels increase at a time of the year when they typically are in decline,” Peach said. “The more typical seasonal pattern is for levels to reach a low by mid- February and then rise until late June, and decline again until February. Recent changes in local climate has resulted in a series of snow and melt sequences that have sent pulses of snow melt into the lake.” As a result, the lake has seen increases that normally would have happened later in the year. The high amount of snow and the sequence of snowmelt events has also had the effect of causing a number of localized erosion problems along lake bluffs and ravines, particularly along the Huron County shores. Runoff from snowmelt has resulted in a number of landslide events. “Some of these erosion problems were ‘self-inflicted’ as a result of past poor stewardship practices like improper vegetation removal from marginally stable slopes,” noted Peach. “Shoreline vegetation is key to the stability of coastal bluffs and ravines and many of these problems could have been avoided if people were a little more informed about slope stability and shore processes.” Climate change projections for Lake Huron suggest that milder winters and more freeze-thaw cycles could produce more frequent runoff events, and therefore, more potential for similar erosion events. The Coastal Centre is encouraging more stewardship planning and conservation efforts along the coast to help prevent future erosion problems from occurring, or getting worse. Information on coastal conservation can be found on the internet at www.lakehuron.ca Due to the extremely dry conditions across all of Huron County last week, area firefighters were busy. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Blyth firefighters responded to garbage fires that began small, but spread out of the landowners’control, Blyth fire chief Paul Josling said. Thursday’s fire began as a small garbage fire on a property on County Road 25 just east of Auburn and Friday’s fire was on Cranbrook Road just south of Brussels. Brussels firefighters responded and called in Blyth for assistance, Josling said. Josling says that in these cases, the best prevention is to not be burning garbage or excess grass in the first place in such dry conditions. In addition to garbage-burning being illegal, during this time of year, the danger of the fire spreading is increased due to the high winds, dry grass and excess loose, dead grass in the area. Josling says that fires like this should not be taking place, but that if residents need to set a small fire to eradicate some grass, to be prepared. “If you do need to set a fire, make sure to keep it small,” he says. “Keep a fire extinguisher or a garden hose close and ready and make sure you have enough people around to put it out before you have to call us.” Josling insists that keeping a fire small and in control is the best defense, in lieu of not setting the first in the first place. Brussels fire chief Murray McArter agrees, saying that while the best idea is to not set a fire in the first place, if a fire needs to be set, do not leave it unattended. “Most people just set it and go away. That was the case on Friday. The fire was set and then (the owner) went to the back of the farm. Don’t leave it unattended,” he says. “So many of these fires get away on people. They really shouldn’t be setting them.” Between the three fires last week, one shed was damaged and another was destroyed, all from fires that spread from initial small garbage fires. By Shawn Loughlin The CitizenLake Huron levels higher, but runoff erodes shoreline