Flip flops, bright red shorts, a pair of glasses — and nothing else.
That was the firefighting gear worn by a Thousand Islands resident when a blaze broke out at a cottage on Ash Island in the St. Lawrence River earlier this summer.
A photo shared by Leeds 1000 Islands Fire Service in late July shows the shirtless man wielding a hose hooked up to pump next to his boat.
Unfortunately, that cottage burned to the ground, one victim of a handful of fires that have broken out on islands in the region during an especially dry summer.
Over the following days, officials fielded upward of 45 calls from islanders asking what they can do to protect their cottages, according to Chief Mike Prior.
The portable fire pump that resident in the picture used, along with his neighbourly instinct to help someone in trouble, are at the heart of a “Dock-to-Door” program the fire department has been rolling out this summer as a way for cottagers stop flames before they spread.
“The idea of the pump isn’t that they become firefighters,” explained Prior. “The idea of the pump is so that they can … manage their property.”
That could mean wetting down the ground and brush between your cottage and your neighbour’s, or getting a start on trying to save a structure before the fire crew arrives, said the chief.
For those lucky enough to live surrounded by water, there are plenty of positives — but being limited to boat access comes with challenges, too.
Firefighters can’t just drive up to your home in their trucks and start spraying, Prior explained. Instead members of his largely volunteer service first have to get to a boat, then load it with supplies and motor over, all of which takes precious time.
Once a boat does arrive, the chief said the first crew is usually on its own until a second team can go through the same process, all of which can take half an hour or more.
Mary Saiter owns a cottage near Gananoque, Ont., that’s almost 120 years told. She described fires on nearby islands this summer as a “gut check.”
During a fire pump demonstration hosted by the fire department on Aug. 22, she was able to try out a hose for the first time.
“It’s quite powerful,” she said, joking it makes for a “little bit of an arm workout.”
After learning how to start the pump and practising with the hose, Saiter said she’s feeling more prepared.
During the session, firefighters also spoke about smoke alarms, and how roots and pine needles can smoulder — sometimes for weeks at a time — before sparking a bigger fire.
“The problem with fires is a perennial one,” said Jim Côté, chair of river safety for the Thousand Islands Association (TIA), though he described the dry conditions this summer as being “particularly bad.”
In the 1930s several islands burned completely, according to Côté, who recalled battling a fire years ago by breaking into a shed to find buckets and other tools.
“It is a very big concern for a lot of folks, and unfortunately, some people don’t take it as seriously as they should,” he explained. “They don’t realize the danger that they’re putting themselves in and their neighbours in and the property in.”
Two decades ago, the TIA subsidized the purchase of about 50 portable pumps, but only about half of those are still in use, he said.
Now the association is supporting the Dock-to-Door program by purchasing the two portable pumps the fire department uses in its demonstrations.
Jeff Seemann left the presentation last week prepared to buy a pump of his own.
His family knows the dangers first-hand. They’ve been the lone residents of Cleopatra Island since 1948, surviving a fire that started after a gas heater exploded.
“[The] house burned quickly,” he said. “The island burned for several days.”
Seemann estimates a pump, hose and everything else will cost him around $1,500, but was quick to add it’s worth the expense.
“We’re very, very aware of the potential for fire,” he said.
The Leeds 1000 Islands Fire Department is hosting one more public clinic this season at the Ivy Lea municipal dock, 117 Ivy Lea Rd., on Aug. 30 from 9 a.m. to noon.
