Natashquan firefighters drive 50 km to douse flames in Kegaska on Lower North Shore
Julia Page | CBC News | Posted: September 20, 2016 9:13 PM | Last Updated: September 20, 2016
'The road made the difference,' municipal administrator says of Highway 138, only connected to Kegaska in 2013
People in the isolated community of Kegaska on Quebec's Lower North Shore say without the help of their nearest neighbours 50 kilometres away, the outcome of a house fire on Monday evening could have been much worse.
Firefighters from Natashquan were able to reach Kegaska within 40 minutes of getting the alert – a feat which would have been impossible before the extension of Highway 138 three years ago.
"My power went out, so I walked outside, and I saw the house next door was totally ablaze", said Isabelle Trudel, who lives in Kegaska, a community of 120 people located about 425 kilometres east of Sept-Îles.
Volunteers tried pumping salt water
Trudel said after making sure the four employees from the Canadian Coast Guard living in the house had managed to get out safely, she called 9-1-1.
The emergency service dispatched a fire crew from Natashquan, 50 kilometres west on Highway 138.
"While we were waiting, we tried putting out the fire with the pumps and hoses we have. But we don't have fire hydrants, and there isn't a lot of water pressure in town," Trudel said.
"While we were waiting, we tried putting out the fire with the pumps and hoses we have. But we don't have fire hydrants, and there isn't a lot of water pressure in town," Trudel said.
Volunteers started pumping salt water from the St.Lawrence River, but they ran into problems because the tide was out, she explained.
'My house could have been next'
The chief of the Natashquan Fire Department, Dany Malek, said it took about 40 minutes to reach Kegaska after his team received the phone call.
"When we arrived half the house was gone," Malek said.
The crew was able to get the fire under control and prevent the flames from jumping onto neighbouring buildings, including Trudel's home.
The crew was able to get the fire under control and prevent the flames from jumping onto neighbouring buildings, including Trudel's home.
"The walls were getting really hot. It was very windy, and the flames were getting higher. If they hadn't been there, my house would probably not be standing today," said Trudel.
Road access since 2013
The village of Kegaska has only been connected to the rest of the Lower North Shore since a long-promised extension of Highway 138 was completed in 2013.
"The road made a difference for us last night," said Darlene Rowsell-Roberts, the municipality's administrator.
"If they hadn't been able to get in with their fire-fighting equipment ... I don't even want to think about it," she said.
The road made the difference for us last night. - Darlene Rowsell-Roberts, municipal administrator
Rowsell-Roberts confirmed Kegaska does not have a fire hydrant system, as is the case for several other small, isolated, mainly anglophone communities that make up the municipality of Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent.
The municipality of Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent, the main part of which stretches along the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence between the Natashquan and Big Mecatina rivers, includes, among others, the villages of Chevery, Harrington Harbour, Kegaska, La Romaine and Tête-à-la-Baleine.
Rowsell-Roberts said the municipality is currently planning to renovate its water line, and it will ask the Quebec government to include a fire hydrant in these plans.
"We have to recognize how people pulled together with the minimal equipment they had, to do what they did," she said.
"We have to recognize how people pulled together with the minimal equipment they had, to do what they did," she said.