HomeMy WebLinkAboutGoderich Signal Star, 2011-07-06, Page 19st fire consumes northern Ontario, Old Post under evacuation notice
years John Gracehas been working in
rntario, this is the biggest forest fire
ace family owns and operates the Old
lige fishing camp, which is on Lake St.
wilt 90 miles northwest of Sioux Look-
,ite of the largest forest fire in Ontario
file fire covers. about 66,000 hectares of
equivalent of 255 square 'Miles - and
tis communities have been evacuated as
%(% kilometers from . the Old Post.
s i t Messes .or residences along the highway
teen evacuated," (race said. "That was
t i ave ago:
vas, we are on evacuation notice"
st Wednesday, (Grace said the fire seemed
'lig under control, though just seven km
mit t had to evacuate yet, he said. When
'otitheast wind we get smoke and ash
lis. Quite a bit of ash:"
icl
there are 20 firefighters from: the
Natural Resources at his camp who
•very day. Directly across the lake there
aging ground for helicopters and there
eta ng in and out -all day and six to eight
ii�+ers.
uge undertaking," he said. "And quite a
e them all go to work en masse"`
are huge plumes of smoke rising
from the horizon.
"It looks like small atom
bombs going off," he said, "For
miles and miles you can see
smoke going up."
When the sky is clear, it has
an orange glow.
"I've never seen anything like
it in my life," Grace said. "You have to
remember this thing is huge. 10 to 15
kilometerswide." , :~
In comparison, last y x-640 forest
fires consumed 13,254 hectares in
Ontario. The 10 -year average is 43,445.
This season, the MNR has put the
number of fires at 285; with 77,000 hec-
tares of land burned.
According to the MNR web site, more than
300 firefighters are working on Sioux Lookout
35, as well as five Twin.Otter water bombers,
seven Birddog aircraft, nine CL -415 heavy water
bombers, 12 detection aircraft and 13 initial
attack helicopters.
Grace noted while the MNR has allowed the
camp to continue to operate, it is under
restricted movement. However, he said the
ministry is doing a phenomenal job keeping every:•
one informed.
Still, life at the remote camp is far from relaxed at
the moment.
"Things are very hectic here," he said. "in the
immediate area of 15 miles, our camp is the only
one not evacuated. `the community close to us, the
Osnaburgh reserve has about 600 people in it, and
they've all been evacuated.`''
Still, the north is prone to forest fires and the
people there know what to do and how to react,
Grace said. Every community has an emergency
response planned and put into action..
Still, looking to the southeast, Grace said there
Auditors report sparks penalty debate
Gerard Creces
OMI Agency
Goderich`s tax penalties are just a
form of bullying, according to Coun,
Yl Donnelly.
At the June 27 meeting of council,
Accountant Ron Burt deliver0 a clean
audit statement to council, highlighting
a $2,503,693 surplus in 2010.
When the talk moved to interest rates,
however, scrutiny began. The town bor-
rows from its reserves ata rate of 1.25
per cent. Donnelly noted that is signifi-
cantly less than what they charge peo-
ple with overdue taxes - 15 per cent
annually.
"That's 10 times more than we're
charging ourselves" he said.
The town brought in $58,000 (less
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than one per cent of the total budget)
through penalty payments last year.
Donnelly again called for the penalty to
be lowered to get more in line with what
the town was being charged.
CAO Larry McCabe said lowering
penalty interest would increase arrears,
adding,15 per cent is common practice
in most Huron County municipalities. ,
However, Donnelly responded that
the threat of high payments may work,.
but it is still a threat.
"The/fact a submission or plan works
is not Weystandard of if it's right," he
said. "Intimidation of taxpayers: with a
club we don't use is still intimidation"
Council voted on a revised fee sched-
ule for. 2011, witkpenalty payments
staying as -is.
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protect your property value.
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