Forest fire in Kanesatake
Courtesy Oka Fire Safety Department Facebook page
A forest fire that blazed in Kanesatake last Friday was deemed accidental and resulted in no property damage or injuries, according to the Oka Fire Safety Department.
At about 2:30 p.m. on May 22, a fire began on Simon Road and grew to about 2.5 acres.
“The fire was accidental,” said Stéphane Sarrazin, interim director of the Oka Fire Safety Department in a statement. “Embers fell into the forest, which was covered in dead leaves, during the burning of branches.”
When on the scene of the fire, the Oka fire department requested assistance from the St. Placide and Pointe Calumet fire departments because of the large size of the fire and because residential homes were nearby, said Sarrazin.
Afterwards, the Oka fire department called a team of forest firefighters from Wildfire Prevention and Suppression in Quebec at the Mont Tremblant base “to assess the extent of the fire and ensure that it was completely extinguished,” said Sarrazin.
“There were three water tankers and two pump trucks, plus approximately 15 firefighters who worked on this forest fire,” said Sarrazin.
“The forest firefighters confirmed that we had done a good job.”
The fire was brought under control around 5:30 p.m., he said.
Surete du Quebec spokesperson Marc Tessier said there is no investigation being conducted by the police regarding the fire.
Hadassah Alencar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
