Parry Sound 33: Pattern Energy Group Looks Increasingly More Responsible For Fires That Took Place on July 18
Climate change has become a growing concern as the rise in natural devastations occur. Countries around the world have come together to form the Paris Climate Agreement in an attempt to beat climate change before it reaches an irreversible effect.
In the early Fall of this year, it was declared that if we didn’t halt major consumers, largely focused on the U.S. and corporations that the Earth’s temperature will rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. With the planet having warmed one degree already, we have noticed a large influence on the increasing amount of natural disasters globally.
Oceans have lifted, deadly storms constantly slam the tropics, and fires ravage through thousands of acres of land. It is no question that climate change is around the corner from one of its deadliest impacts, especially since Canada and the U.S. faced both of their worst fire seasons yet.
On July 18, Parry Sound 33 was discovered. This fire grew to reach 11’362.5 hectares and was only declared on ‘being held’ on Aug. 9 — meaning it was somewhat contained. It was not until Oct. 31 where the fire was declared out primarily based on the fact of that being the end of the fire season.
Larry Old, Chief of the fire department in Brittfire stated that the fire would burn further than Oct. 31, as the ground would remain warm through the winter based on the number of hectares that had burned. This means that despite it being contained and declared ‘out’, they have to keep an eye on it in the upcoming 2019 spring season.
Old was in charge of where the fires originated, which were on the First Native Reserves where a company called Pattern Energy Group were developing a Wind Project known as Henvey Inlet.
Once the fires broke out and spread to a certain extent the Ministry of Natural Resources took over and Larry was no longer apart of the containment process.
Parry Sound 33 displaced residents in the communities of Key River, Key Harbour South, Killarney, and French River Provincial Park. Grundy Lake and French River Provincial Parks were closed to ensure the safety of the public while the fires were still active.
An evacuation alert was put in place within the community of Alban due to heavy smoke conditions, but Highway 69 was never closed [instead was carefully monitored by the Ministry of Transportation and OPP officials].
Travel restrictions were initiated to ensure the perimeter of the fire around local roadways, waterways, and highways — especially from the areas affected heavily by smoke.
Jolanta Kowalski, who works for the Ministry of Natural Resources stated that “rangers installed equipment in the form of sprinklers to protect structures, however, 13 structures were lost and six different properties as a result of the wildfire.”
In the battle against the fire, crews were called in from provinces across Canada, as well as from Mexico to help extinguish the flames.
Kowalski stated that “The Incident Management Team from Alberta was instrumental in limiting the growth of the fire.”
The Henvey Inlet Wind Project was taking place where the Parry Sound 33 fire broke out.
The Inlet Project is a partnership between the First Nations of Henvey and the Nigig Power Corporation. The project was implemented in order to bring more jobs into the community of Georgian Bay, assisting in the local economy.
This project was one of the largest wind projects to develop in Ontario, along with the largest partnership with a First Nation Community. The construction of this project started back in 2017 and was supposed to continue into 2019 (but was put on pause due to the fire).
The benefits of the finished project were to bring in clean, reliable and safe power through wind energy. The largest benefit was the fact that it would help assist in the battle against on-going climate change issues while being compatible with mixed land usage.
When the Henvey Inlet Project was taking place, an extreme fire ban was put into place due to the dry conditions of the summer. Any industrial operations, such as the Inlet Project are supposed to follow the Forest Fire Prevention Act and Outdoor Fires Regulation especially when there are risks around fire elevation according to Jolanta Kowalski who works for the MNR.
The project developers schedule was being pushed heavily onto the workers on site, which resulted in longer work days. Seven-day work weeks were being pushed for, on top of the consideration of night shifts in order to stay on schedule for the finished 2019 projected timeline.
At the beginning of the investigation, speculation surrounded whether Henvey Inlet was responsible for the fires that took place. Ontario’s forest fire information site listed Parry Sound №33 as “human,” suggesting that someone tied to the project could be responsible. Shayne McCool, a spokesperson for the MNR stated that The fire’s cause was listed but was later removed to avoid any speculation towards the public eye.
On the Henvey Inlet site, the company dedicates a section addressing the on-going fire battle. They summarize that they are dedicated to assisting and working with the clean-up team while providing a variety of gift cards to those who were most affected.
Journalists working for the CBC had addressed statements where individuals working for the company summarized that rocks were being blasted and the heavy machinery being used had previously set off smaller fires before it erupted into a larger one that couldn’t be contained.
It looks somewhat guilty or misleading to see the company offering incentives to those affected if indeed they had nothing to do with the cause of it.
A worker on site during the day of the fire stated that “there were fires that started up from our machines, little fires.”
“One started this time and it was too big for [workers] to control. It got out of hand and turned into devastation,” according to a CBC source on site.
Workers were equipped with fire suppression packs that could assist in cases where fires broke out, but for a blaze that spread so quickly, it stood no chance.
In a direct statement released by Pattern Development, they stated that “Regardless of the cause, we are committed to assisting the communities affected.”
Wayne Hollis, a former worker for HIW spoke about the conditions on site just this week.
“The grass, all the time was dry and brittle. There were fires throughout the day. They would just light up,” he said.
“As the excavators would proceed, through the bush or scrape the rubbing (earth off the top of the rock) sometimes it would cause fires to spark up,” he said.
According to Hollis, this occurred a couple times a week.
While workers identities were protected in the first interviews conducted, Hollis’s statements are matching up similarly to those who were on site that day — suggesting that due diligence was not properly taken on site.
Hollis stated that “this could have been avoided.”
After sharing information on social media about the fires, Hollis believes that he was laid off due to his risk. It brings to light the questionability of the Pattern Energy company trying to contain any possible risks to the investigation. If they were not responsible for the fire, then why go out of their way to quiet current or previous employees?
As mentioned previously, workers stated that they were being pushed to complete the job in a shorter time span. It was brought to light through Hollis that the wind farm was months behind schedule.
The company was at risk of losing their contract to Ontario’s electricity grid if the wind warm was not operational by next spring. This only points more fingers in their direction for questioning after bypassing their steps in following the Forest Fire Prevention Act and Outdoor Fires Regulation.
Hollis stated that “I don’t think the work should have kept going. I think it should have been put down to a halt or at least minimized so that it wouldn’t affect the bush and stuff like that.”
The root cause of the fire is still unknown, as the investigation is on-going. However, workers on site stated that there was an Argo [all-terrain-vehicle] that set fire to the bush after breaking down.
CBC confirmed on Wed. Dec. 5 that the provinces investigation team seized that vehicle, which was found at the Parry Sound 33 where the fire ignited.
One of the key aspects involved in the investigation is the Argo terrain vehicle. Investigators are looking into its battery, chain and other components that could have resulted in the fire.
A small crew was working on site within the bush when the turbine on site №5 started (Parry Sound 33).
According to Frank Davis, an Executive of Pattern Energy within Canada stated that the crew was putting out bird tape, which is to assist in the prevention of nesting near or around where the construction is taking place.
A lot of concern surrounds the question of why the vehicle was out in the bush in the first place — especially considering the fact that the conditions were listed as an extreme fire hazard.
Pattern Energy Group insists that it was following strict protocol under the Forest Fires Prevention Act and that the MNR didn’t issue any concerns or orders that suggested they stopped the work on the project.
Kowalski who works for the MNR emphasized in an interview the importance of following strict protocol when concluding facts on the on-going investigation.
Pattern Energy Group declined to comment on the on-going investigation but have insisted in other media outlets that they played no role in any of the related fires, even denying their involvement in Parry Sound 33.
A prevention measure that could have been taken to restrict the possibility of fire ignition would have been more blast mats. Blast mats can help prevent fires, but they are time-consuming and expensive, a measure that Pattern Energy Group skipped past to save some money and time.
A direct violation of the Environmental assessment would be a lack of rubber blast mats, along with a violation against the First Nation’s permit.
In videos released by CBC on Wed. Dec. 5 it shows large amounts of debris flying into the lake and around the forest where the Henvey Inlet Project was working.
Wayne Tackaberry, an adviser for the health and safety in the mining industry stated that “from an environmental standpoint, [that’s] a definite no-no.”
Wildfires can be catastrophic, unpredictable and can take centuries to repair.
In any situation, they can change rapidly, depending on current or future weather conditions.
Just two months after Parry Sound 33 started, it was still smoldering on the south side of Sudbury.
The fires can begin to produce their own wind that can result in the over-powering of large-scale winds that are outside of it. In the case of Parry Sound 33, this was an issue that crews were faced with.
On average, five mil. Acres burn every year within the U.S. alone according to Kevin Bonser, an expert in the science behind fires.
When a fire begins to spread, it can reach rates of 23 kph — ultimately consuming everything in its path and taking on a life of its own.
Once it spreads, fires fight for survival just like anything else. It finds ways to stay alive through embers and spawning smaller fires around it.
A flashpoint is a temperature at which wood bursts into flames (300 C). When wood reaches this degree, it will release gases that mix with oxygen resulting in the combustion that assists the fire.
Considering that Pattern Energy was working within the woods, with an Argo vehicle that would already reach temperatures that were a risk to the forest — highlights the lack of due diligence taken in the field of work.
Crews that were hired to clean up wreckage from the fires were paid for by the Henvey Inlet Wind team — which highlights suspicion to their involvement in the root cause after forking money out to assist in the problem.
Jennifer Pereira, a spokesperson for Henvey Inlet stated that “[they’re] trying to be good neighbors,” according to Erik White from CBC.
Pereira concluded that “[they] haven’t seen any evidence of a link between the fire and construction activities.”
In the week leading up to Parry Sound 33, it was confirmed that there were three other related fires within the construction site.
The other occurrences were reported, where water bombers were dispatched to assist in its control.
On top of the three other fire occurrences that took place, there were also several smaller fires a week that Hollis mentioned in his interview with CBC.
It was a clear sign, that despite the size of the fires and their containment that the work taking place should have been halted by Henvey Inlet in order to protect parts of the forest on high alert.
After speaking with Shayne McCool on the on-going investigation, he couldn’t release any information involving the Henvey Inlet Group.
“I can tell you that it is still under investigation at this time, the cause of the fire is unknown, and we don’t have any, of that group that you mentioned information in their involvement,” he said.
Based on where the fire originated, McCool’s team in the MNR was responsible for handling it.
“It was a part of our jurisdiction, so what we did initially when the fire was called in we responded with a four-person fire crew and an air tact,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the conditions at the time of the fire were so bad that the wind conditions coming off of the water were fanning the flames and the fire did grow to Innisfil and became unmanageable for the four-person crew,” he said.
McCool suggested that the conditions of the fire were worse off than what was stated on the phone call that was called in and that it grew fast in a short amount of time.
“Including the water bombers, they couldn’t control the conditions that we thought,” he said.
Six water bombers, 90 rangers, and eight helicopters were displaced attempting to distinguish the fires on only day seven of the battle according to Lisa Kivien from the Key River Association.
When asked about the negligence involved in Henvey Inlet’s part, he couldn’t speak on it.
“I can’t speak to any of that. Uh, I don’t have any information on that. Again, the cause of the fire is still under investigation,” he said.
With many concerns about how long the investigation will take, McCool concluded that it depends on the varying situations.
“It really just depends on how the investigation proceeds, if we need to go to litigation or not, or whether or not the cause can be determined as not being human but that really will depend on what steps are needed to be taken,” he said.
Without directly stating the investigation was being looked into as a human cause, McCool suggested that due to the length of the investigation already it was ruled out as not human.
The challenge now is facing the difficulty in forcing an industry to pay for a costly wildfire, after a lengthy investigation takes place.
The Ontario fire alone could cost an estimated ten million to the city.
According to experts, wildfires are caused by industry or people for more than half that take place yearly. However, governments rarely file lawsuits in the damages and costs endured from them.
Both Pattern Energy Group and the Henvey Inlet First Nation Project are insured if this investigation goes into litigation.
Over the years, Ontario has launched several negligence lawsuits at companies in an attempt to retrieve the millions of dollars they spent battling human-related fires.
The problem with fighting forest fire investigations is that they can take years to be resolved if they even ever are.
Back in 2012, The Crown was suing for 38 mil., against the CN rail for a fire that took place near Timmins — which burned 40,000 hectares.
The case has been before the courts for the last four years, but there has still been no trial.
Proving the exact cause of a fire, especially when it takes place in a forest with minimal witnesses can be next to impossible.
In the case with the Henvey Inlet Project, the investigation has an upper hand with the assistance of good citizens.
Hollis is an example of someone willing to risk their job in order to find justice in a situation that is an attempt to be swept under the rug by a multi-million-dollar company.
Due to several witnesses (employees) on the site where the incident occurred, the government may stand a better chance of winning this case at litigation.
A key aspect relies on the fact that the investigative team has attained the Argo vehicle that is being claimed as the cause of Parry Sound 33.
With both witnesses and material evidence being proven in the investigation so far, it is only a matter of time until more facts arise that point in the direction of Pattern Energy being at fault.
They have exhibited manners in ‘assisting the clean-up,’ as being ‘good neighbors,’ but it brings a lot of suspicion into the real intent behind those actions.
Most evidence laid out, in this case, suggests that Pattern Energy, responsible for the lead in the Henvey Inlet Project is guilty of a lack of due diligence and therefore negligent behavior in discarding protocols put in place by the Government of Ontario.
As a result of skimming around protocols and avoiding proper safety measures in order to reach a work deadline — Henvey Inlet First Nation Project resulted in a large loss of Georgian’s Bay Forestry, including homes and cottages of those residing in that area.
