A cottage owner on Lake Cecebe in Magnetawan wants a total, year-round ban on fireworks after a boathouse was destroyed following a display the night of Saturday, Aug. 31.
Magnetawan Mayor Sam Dunnett says council will consider the request from Jacqueline Raaflaub.
Raaflaub states in an email, “There was a massive fire and explosion at a boathouse on Lake Cecebe that put persons and property at risk.”
In her email, Raaflaub said she believes there was a “correlation between the fireworks display preceding the event and the explosion and fire that resulted” at the boathouse.
Raaflaub also estimates the flames were 40 to 60 feet high.
Raaflaub called 911 to report the fire. Her cottage is across the lake about 200 feet from the boathouse and she said for more than an hour "live embers rained down on (her) property.”
Raaflaub said she continuously filled water buckets to douse the embers that evening.
In her email, Raaflaub said “there was a real possibility of the fire spreading from the boathouse to the trees surrounding it, (the) neighbouring cottages and indeed across the lake.”
The next morning, Raaflaub said she was horrified “to see black charred leaves completely covering (her) property on the forest floor, wooden decking and roof of the cottage.”
The wooden boathouse was 16 by 20 feet and housed a boat, a personal watercraft and outboard motor.
Raaflaub said that the next day, to her, “toxic fumes from the burning fibreglass permeated the air causing difficulty breathing for several hours.”
She also believes that the lake is now contaminated because boathouses usually store gasoline, oil and other solvents and that these substances would have resulted in environmental distress and harm to the water quality and organisms.
Raaflaub says fireworks are incendiary agents and it’s never reasonable to enable a situation where fireworks can spark fires.
The municipality is culpable for what occurred because it allows fireworks to be set off, she said.
Although Dunnett shares some of Raaflaub’s concerns, he disagrees on the culpability factor.
“There is no way the municipality is liable,” Dunnett said..
Dunnett said the municipality has a bylaw stating fireworks can only be discharged on specific holidays.
The bylaw allows people to set off fireworks on Labour Day Monday, but in the boathouse fire incident they were discharged two nights earlier.
Magnetawan Fire Chief Derek Young weighed in on the incident and clarified that the boathouse fire was not directly the result of a firework being discharged.
He said a family relation of the cottager who owned the boathouse set off fireworks from a floating dock on Lake Cecebe about 30 feet from shore.
“After the fireworks were discharged, they were put in a metal garbage pail and put in the boathouse,” Young said.
Young said because the boathouse and its contents, including the boat, personal watercraft, and an outboard motor, were destroyed, fire investigators can’t prove that putting the spent fireworks in the boathouse was the actual cause of the fire.
“It’s going to be undetermined,” Young said, referring to the cause of the fire and noting the fire started inside the boathouse.
Young said he has extensive experience with fireworks and he wants the public to understand that discharged fireworks still have hot embers.
“Sometimes they’re not quite visible, but they continue to burn and you might not even know it,” he said.
“What could have happened was one of the embers was still hot and a small amount was burning. Eventually, it got to the point where it reached combustion. The (spent) fireworks are cardboard and paper, so it wouldn’t take much to start it up.”
Young said it’s the fire department’s investigative assumption that the fire in the metal pail grew and extended to the boathouse, but he emphasized, “We can’t conclude that was the actual cause” because of the severe damage.
Young estimates that from the time the fireworks show ended and the spent fireworks were put in the metal pail and placed in the boathouse, it took about 45 minutes for the fire to begin and for the owners to see it.
Young also clarified talk about an explosion and the size of the flames.
“First of all, no explosion was reported to us by the owners or fire crews,” he said.
“And no on-scene evidence showed any indication that there was an explosion. So, I’m not quite sure where this explosion part is coming from.”
On the matter of fuel, the fire department believes the outdoor motor and personal watercraft contained gas but that it was a small amount.
“My husband heard popping sounds and we believe there was an explosion,” Raaflaub said in a later phone call.
Five firefighters from the Magnetawan Fire Department and another five from the Burk’s Falls Fire Department took 19 minutes to arrive on the scene from the time the call came in and Young said by then the fire was almost extinguished.
He said this was due to a nearby cottager who brought a portable fire pump, hose, and nozzle to the scene and did a very good job of putting out the flames.
Raaflaub was also appreciative of this individual’s effort.
Young said what remained were hot spots which the firefighters handled.
Young said from the fire department’s standpoint there was no violation of the fire code or burning bylaw, meaning no one would face charges in either instance.
But considering that the fireworks were discharged two days before they should have, this could be a violation of the noise bylaw and it would be up to the municipal bylaw officer to determine if anyone should be charged.
As for the damage, it’s estimated at $125,000, which includes the boathouse and all the contents.
Young said two trees near the boathouse sustained some damage and a small section of the dock adjacent to the boathouse was also damaged.
The fire did not spread far from its point of origin because the ground was moist due to rain in the area heading into the weekend, he said.
The Ministry of the Environment has been notified about the incident and will undertake remedial action to contain the materials.
Young’s investigation is complete. He said the Magnetawan Fire Department plans to carry out a public education initiative next spring to help avoid a repeat of the boathouse fire.
He said the disposal of the spent fireworks in this case could have been handled differently.
“They could have been doused with water to ensure they are cold and completely extinguished,” he said, noting that discharged fireworks should be kept outside until they are not a hazard.
Dunnett said Magnetawan lets residents discharge fireworks on holidays such as Victoria Day, Labour Day, and Canada Day. The municipality itself sets off fireworks on Canada Day over water.
Raaflaub is aware of the rules but said it’s not clear if other cottage owners are equally informed of the bylaw conditions.
She said people setting off fireworks is a regular occurrence on weekends.
“Every weekend is a holiday weekend for some,” she said. “Either people are unaware or don’t bother to become informed about the bylaw."
Raaflaub was heartened by a communication from Magnetawan’s clerk telling her the mayor wants to see the issue of banning fireworks brought up at a future council meeting.
Because of the distance between her Toronto home and Magnetawan, Raaflaub is unlikely to appear at council when the firework ban issue is raised. However, Raaflaub said she would provide more detailed information if the council requests it.
Raaflaub said when the boathouse was burning, it was a scary moment. From her vantage point across the lake, she says she heard people yelling at the scene and you could feel their panic. She said the consequences could have been more serious, “including loss of life.”
In her opinion, when it comes to discharging fireworks in a cottage area surrounded by forest, there are no safe places to set them off, even if the individual is shooting them over a lake.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with Almaguin News. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada
