Days of constant high temperatures means Ottawa fire crews helping fight a stubborn brush fire in west Ottawa need lots of help themselves.
Some are calling the command centre off Moodie Drive in Nepean “Camp Moodie” for the number of services provided to fire crews who spend hours in temperatures well into the 30s.
A Salvation Army, cooling tent and paramedic station are among the services available to firefighters such as Marc Laframboise, who has been fighting the fire since it started Thursday.
“It is exhausting,” he said. “Still lots of smoke, lots of hot spots.”
“Right now we’re stretched to the limit,” said deputy chief Gerry Pingitore.
There are about 40 to 50 firefighters on the scene at all times, combing over the 120 acres to look for hot spots.
Three have been hospitalized for heat exhaustion so far.
Reinforcements have come from places such as North Grenville and the Ottawa International Airport, which sent the Ottawa Fire Service its crash truck on Monday.
That truck can monitor hot spots electronically and spray foam to areas crews can’t reach, but there is still danger in the unpredictable fire zone.
“Just recently we were in an area and three trees fell without warning,” Pingitore said.
Fire crews said there’s only one thing that can speed up the extinguishing process and that’s a significant rainfall.
With a report from CTV Ottawa’s Catherine Lathem
