A Submission from the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority
The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority is pleased to advise that the Wainfleet Bog Conservation Area is now open for the public to visit. Recently the site was closed following the discovery of a peat-fire in a remote section of the Conservation Area. The fire is now extinguished and the site is now safe for visitors to enjoy.
A path through Niagara, Ontario’s Wainfleet Bog Conservation Area. Photo courtesy of Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority
The fire which was discovered on August 1, 2012 burned for three weeks before a team of MNR Forest Fire Rangers declared the fire out. Tony D’Amario, Chief Administrative Officer/Secretary-Treasurer of the NPCA said “we wish to express our sincere thanks to the Ministry of Natural Resources, Waterford Group Law Crushed Stone and the Township of Wainfleet Fire Department for their efforts.
This has been a difficult fire and it was truly a team effort involving many services working together to achieve a successful end. We also wish to thank the media for keeping the public informed through regular media updates, and we appreciate the cooperation of the public in staying away from the Conservation Area while fire operations were underway”.
Over the past week Conservation Authority staff monitored the site for any “hot spots” and inspected trails to ensure that the area is safe for the public to return. In spite of recent rains, the Wainfleet Bog Conservation Area remains a high fire risk.
Mr. D’Amario reminds all visitors to stay on designated trails and refrain from smoking in the conservation area.
You can learn more about the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority and its many conservation areas and activities for the public by visiting this time-honoured organization’s website at http://www.npca.ca/ .
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Niagara At Large 
Peat fires can happen, several years ago Eireland had a drought and their peat bogs caught on fire , this is a country noted for being green and lush with the rains off the North Atlantic, The peat can be up to 6 feet deep and long used, as a source of fuel. Wainfleet is famous for it’s turf growing industry, This past Summer was one of the hottest summers and longest in our history and may never happen again, so it is not surprising that Wainfleet got hit by an unusual happening, When coal deposits catch on fire, like it did in Pennsylvania ten years ago it collapsed the whole Town into the abyss.
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One important matter to consider is that the fire would have been worse had not the ecological restoration efforts begun in the mid-1990s been undertaken. One of the key elments of this strategy has been to block drainage cnannels which lowered water levels in the Bog. It is to be hoped that the Conservation Authority’s Strategic Plan review will build on these efforts and restore more water levels by closure of obsolete drainage features.
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