Christmas is coming!

 JB decided to change up the area under our Charlie Brown Christmas tree. I spray painted the castle red. We won't be using it as a toy anytime soon. It came in handy last year.

This year, we are all set up. Presents are wrapped. We're good to go.

Notice the temperature Saturday morning, -11 C.

JB added more lights to his display, but it was a bit bouncy. Nutmeg jumped up, took a whack at the train, and it fell off the track. I used tweezers to take some fluff out of the train wheels. 

Back in July, 2011, I used a couple of pieces of wood to make a baby gate. It worked really well, but we don't need it anymore. I noticed Daisy climbing on it in the photo. (She's doing well, I've heard, rehomed in an apartment of JB's cousin's friend.) 

The train hasn't been working very well. I took the baby gate apart, and recycled the wood. I had another brainstorm, for Plan C for the train. Splitting the two pieces in half, I cut them up to fit the top of the card table. What a difference it made. The cardboard was to bouncy and the train kept losing contact.

As an aside, while I used my circular saw to cut it up, in the frigid -5 temperatures, I could smell the sawdust and I thought of my father. He was always building stuff. 

It works so much better. Cinnamon is quite cautious. He keeps leaving the room when we start up the train.

Fire in Rideau Ferry

What a terrible sound, especially for a former Victim Services volunteer. Sirens.
Engine after engine went by.
You know it looks really bad, but our BBDE firefighters do a fine job, as all of our volunteer firefighters do in rural Ontario.
I told one guy, "Good job." and he said, not really. It was too far along by the time they got there.

drills in spring

Here I am with a Muskoka
firefighter volunteer.
Her hubby volunteers, too!

We had two fires in the region today. It's not good being in the news. They never seem to celebrate the good things that happen.
All of our firefighters are volunteers in rural Ontario. Bless their hearts. Muskoka has the highest number of female volunteer firefighters in Ontario!
I don't know about the numbers in Lanark County, but they work so hard.

Fire rips through Rivington home

Firefighters from BBDE and Perth were on scene in Rideau Ferry to battle a fire at the home of John and Cindy Rivington. According to Andrew Rivington, son of John, his father and stepmother are in Florida but a couple has been looking after the home and were taken by ambulance to hospital for observation. Police officers from Lanark County OPP were also on scene directing traffic.

It seemed to have begun in the garage, as it was gone. Firefighters had to break open the roof to get to the fire.
Rivington could only watch as fire fighters reloaded their oxygen tanks and made tandem trips to battle the blaze. Men were on ladders to reach the second floor with a chainsaw to open up the roof. 

It's so sad seeing something like this.

Rideau Ferry Fire March 7, 2014 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
The fire fighters were on their way at 2:45 today, by 4:30 p.m. they were still fighting this fire. Our volunteer firefighters are the best. A very sad looking house, but all were safe, even the dog.

Sometimes you laugh, sometimes you cry, but look for the helpers!

Winter is a time for deep respect for many people. Early pioneers bring many stories of fires in the 'good old days.'

Thankfully, we have many services, due to our municipal tax dollars, in infrastructure, to protect us.
Mr. Rogers told us a story (on YouTube):
My mother always told me, when there was bad news, to look for the Helpers!

It is the season when things really get tough for our EMS crews. There are many helpers we can focus on, instead of our trite problems.

We have had very cold weather in this part of the continent, and with cold weather, there are resulting fires, as people seek to keep their homes warm. There are families who are out of their homes, who have lost everything. There are injuries and deaths due to smoke inhalation.

There has been a horrible fire in Kingston, Ontario. It is a good news story, however.

The best photos can be found posted by Kingston Police on their Facebook page.
A beautiful structure, meant for student housing, had a worker on a crane rescued by a CFB military helicopter. Instead of blame, we can honour those who serve the public.

Here they are working in the wee hours, in the cold, to contain the fire. People were evacuated, hydro and gas were turned off, while they fought the fire. The Red Cross came in and provided help and an evacuation site, as well as a phone number for those worried about family and friends.

A retirement home, with 100 residents, was evacuated in a dense area of the city, in the middle of exams for Queens University students.
The hotels are putting people up.
Vehicles were on fire, from winds that spread the fire. Many will have lost much.

There were no fatalities, no serious injuries, which is amazing. They think it was a propane tank that exploded in the building, as they were working.


The stories continue to be grand:

100.5 Kruz FM ‏@KruzFM

Pete's Cousin Vinnie says the rescued crane operator was also a hero himself. #ygkFire http://bit.ly/1jhHRcY 

While the building was on fire, the crane operator picked someone off of the burning building and plucked his fellow worker off of the roof, to put him on the ground. He was on the crane, in the cold, waiting an hour to get off of the crane.

Yes, it was windy, blowing bitter cold. The crane operator wasn't dressed for the weather, since he was in the crane cab. They had to pry the guy off of the crane, as he was in shock.

They have worked all night on the fire

There was a gas station near-by

Kingston, Ontario

UPDATE:

Mayor Mark Gerretsen ‏@MayorOfKingston

#ygkfire what ppl don't know: If helicopter couldn't get crane op, @kingstonpolice tact team were ready to use alt crane to attempt rescue.

Driving in southeastern Ontario is dangerous

Everyone loves a parade

I don't know about drivers where you live, but we were on our way to the Maberly Fair.
Actually, I do know about drivers where you live, most of you contributed some indicative comments on my distracted driving post.
We were stopped by firefighters. Yes, it is that time of year! That Labour Day telethon.
Our volunteer firefighters work hard!

Here we stop!

Hubby dropped his change into the boot

Fill the boot!

Unfortunately, there were many crazy people passing. In a crazy way.

This guy passed us on the right,
went in front of us into our lane,
and sped through what was then a red light.

This dude, in the truck, floored it
and passed them before the right lane ended,
moving into the left lane in front of her.

The Corvette scared us!
The noise -when he gunned the engine.

Then there are weird people.
How wide IS her car?!

First, he pulls out the side road, crossing over the line.

Then, he passes the car in front of us!

Milford Bay Forest fire: across 6 hectares

I love the Milford Bay area. As with many rural places, they have volunteer firefighters! They sure earned their pay this season. Below are photos from a 2010 pancake fundraiser.

The fire may be out, but the scar remains
THE MUSKOKAN — The brush fire that blazed across six hectares of Milford Bay on July 24 is out, but the damage it caused will be visible for years to come. Believed, but not proven, to be the result of a careless hitchhiker. 

Truck watching for my grandkids!

My granddaughters LOVE trucks and heavy vehicles! We've bought them some cute books that feature them.

Here are some videos for them.
First, they redid the shoulders of our road. Hot work, indeed.




Then they watered and hammered it all down. One guy has to drive backwards.


 Next, 3-alarm fire, fire trucks!
 In Bala, hydro trucks!

 But the most popular video: the garbage truck! About 3000 hits, and the employee waved and did a dance for her.

 Here is a big truck, hauling stuff in Perth. It shows why we need a ring road!

Volunteer firefighters & firebans, ignore them at OUR peril

Why do we have fire bans?

Because fighting fires in cottage country is a tricky thing.
Unfortunately, many ignore them.
Fire bans include fireworks.
I know I write for those who agree with me.
The solution? Phone the fire department if you see an illegal fire.

Access in cottage country is the first issue. The woods have been dry this spring, with an early thaw, and not nearly enough spring showers.

Citiots ignore these at their peril

The second issue is that the fire ban couldn't possibly apply to me, the citiot thinks. 'I'm right by the water!'
Not so.

Muskoka had it bad last weekend – despite a TOTAL FIRE BAN

"Despite the recent rain the total fire ban remains in effect for Muskoka. The fire ban means all fires of any kind, including fireworks, are not allowed. Although the bush is starting to green up the risk of forest fire remains extreme."

Volunteers and EMS crews work hard
on land and in the water 

This fire was on an island, and while our volunteer firefighters have equipment, for both land and water, it takes time to get there.

Muskoka long weekend fires
Firefighters were looking for boaters to ferry firefighters to the island in Huntsville.

Busy long weekend for firefighters

“When crews arrived on the scene they found an injured man trapped on a three-foot ledge half way down the rock face of a cliff. They also discovered about four acres of land on fire.

Additional fire crews from Lake of Bays and Muskoka Lakes were brought in Monday to assist the exhausted Huntsville and Port Sydney fire crews to contain the fire. Crews will remain on scene for the next couple days cleaning up hot spots and patrolling to make sure the fire is out.”

Two injuries, a man trapped on a ledge while trying to fight the fire, three days to put it out, bringing in MNR water bombers for help.
This is serious business.
Firefighters are busy enough with fires caused by nature, let alone those caused by people.

Northern Ontario has it bad now
The Ministry of Natural Resources publishes 'Current Fire Situations', and it look terrible.

Ontario Forest Fires

Year	Fires	Hectares
2011 to date	148	1,452
10 year avg. (mean)	187	4,489
2012 to date	335	29,304

Northeastern Ontario continued to receive new fires on Wednesday May 23 as another 10 starts were confirmed. There are now 45 fires active in the province, 43 of them in the Northeast Region. 

Visit the MNR interactive map

More Information

• Emergency Area Orders
• Fires of Note
• Current Restricted Fire Zones
• Current Restricted Fire Zones Map
• Fire Danger Map in Ontario
• Map of Current Fires in Ontario
• 2012 Photo/Video Gallery