Fire causes 207 closure
An out-of-control garbage fire outside of a cigarette factory was the cause of last Thursday afternoon’s temporary closure of Route 207.
“We could see a large column of smoke from the 207 overpass, so I immediately requested a firefighter crew and a tanker because of the location,” said Kahnawake Fire Brigade (KFB) fire chief Wihse Stacey, who added that the fire was close to the 207 Longhouse.
The fire was quickly extinguished by the KFB, and the fire did not spread beyond the area where garbage had been burning.
The hot, windy conditions on Thursday were Stacey’s primary concern, with the fear that the fire could spread to trees or other structures because of the embers.
“They had lost control of what was in there. There was evidence that this had been going on for a little while, but we can’t really determine for sure how long,” said Stacey.
“They did actually make an effort to keep the area safe, but it still got beyond what they were capable of handling. Not knowing the proper conditions, things can get out of hand quite fast.”
Stacey said that garbage should not be burned, plain and simple.
“There’s no reason for it. We have garbage pickup, we have places that they can bring it. There’s no reason to be doing something like that. It’s both bad for the environment and dangerous for public safety,” said Stacey.
“This is something that we’ve tried to put out to the public for many years.”
