Strong follow up needed following Tremblay Beach Conservation Area fire

What are the next steps after a fire at the Tremblay Beach Conservation Area? CTV Windsor’s Bob Bellacicco looks into it.

Essex Region Conservation Authority CAO Tim Byrne wasn’t happy when he got the call Tremblay Beach Conservation Area was on fire.

“A shock and disappointment,” Byrne said.

The fire burned close to 50 acres of property.

“If we didn’t have the fire breaks and we didn’t have it under control, it could have, if the wind was in the other direction, it could have got out much worse than it was,” said Lakeshore Deputy Chief Jeff Pulleybank. “There was a bunch of our residential houses to the west.”

Lakeshore fire is reminding residents a permit is needed for any open burns in the municipality

“We do require burning permission for anything over approximately two by two in a residential area,” Pulleybank noted.

The area won’t be ashes for long. Byrne says he expects it will be green within a month.

He said the soil is rich with organic material. Rain and warmer temps will see cat tails, bulrush, and other wetland species bloom, but so will phragmites.

“The burn that did take place has eradicated the phragmites,” Byrne noted, but not for long.

Phragmites is an invasive, non-native reed grass that is becoming widespread and threatening the ecological health of wetlands in and around the Great Lakes, including the Tremblay Beach Conversation Area.

“Fire by itself as a control for phragmites is not necessarily a good thing, unless something else is followed up,” said Byrne, who noted phragmites will grow back just as fast as everything else in the next few weeks and, once again, overpower the wetland.

He said flash fires like this could enhance root growth, “Now we have to take a look at is there an opportunity to do something there, encourage either flooding or encourage water control.”

Byrne explained phragmites can’t survive deeper water levels, which is why he’d like to explore doing dike work, digging, and excavations to allow more water into the area.

“It is the best mechanism, the most suitable mechanism to keep phragmites from going back in and taking over,” he said.

Byrne said funding from senior levels of government is vital to help build a system for water retention and control near the north end of the conservation area. The system will help maintain water levels in what they hope will eventually become a natural wetland.