GRAVENHURST - Good fortune has saved the Gravenhurst Fire Department any serious battles thus far this summer. On Monday, July 23, a day before four area fire departments converged on a serious forest fire in tinder-dry Milford Bay, they got their scare though. Department chief Lorne McNeice explained Monday afternoon Gravenhurst crews responded a grass and forest fire along the dead-end Conservation Road, south of Doe Lake Road.
He said concerns were running high with the excessively dry conditions, but fortunately within about three and a half hours the blaze was contained, consuming 0.2 hectares of land there. Because of the particularly dry conditions, crews returned Tuesday morning briefly to re-soak and check for flare-ups, but none were reported.
“It’s too hard to tell exactly what the cause may have been there, but it certainly could have been (human caused),” he said.
About two weeks ago a Muskoka district-wide, full fire ban was put in place and as of press time had not been lifted. While other regional crews have had hard times dealing with fires in the extreme, dry conditions, McNeice said his volunteers have been saved any major catastrophes.
“We have been responding to a lot of burning complaints, there’s lots of burning even with the ban on,” he said. “We’ve had our fingers crossed for a few good days of rain before anything too bad happens.”