More help from P.E.I.

Six volunteer firefighters doing what they can to assist during disaster

Mariah Getson chokes back tears trying to put into words what she is seeing in fire-ravaged Nova Scotia. The captain of the Victoria Village Volunteer Fire Department is one of about a handful of volunteer firefighters from P.E.I. who decided this week to head over to help in any way they can.

“I’m trying not to cry just telling you this because there is so much going on over here,’’ Getson said, her voice shaking, in a cellphone interview with SaltWire on June 2. “People need help. There are tiny little fires starting everywhere.’’

Getson and Jackie Best, another firefighter with the Victoria department, decided May 30 to pack up an SUV and head to Nova Scotia. They did not have a plan or a specific area in mind. Getson and Best just knew their help was needed.

“They need help, and things over here are terrible,’’ Best said during the phone interview. “There are hot spots still flaring up. It’s crazy how people have come together at such a terrible time. Things are not under control.’’

Allen Cole, chief of the New London Fire Department, also wanted to help.

Cole and three of his members – Brandon MacNevin, David Weeks and Alan Doucette – jumped in a couple of their trucks and drove to Hammonds Plains, N.S., where they spent almost three days helping Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources battle the wildfires in the area.

“I was talking to EMO (Emergency Measures Organization) in Nova Scotia, and they said they could use the help, so we went over and gave them a hand,’’ Cole told SaltWire in a phone conversation on June 1.

The New London crew left May 30 and returned to P.E.I. early on the morning of June 1.

Cole said June 2 his crew is thinking about going back but has made no firm plans.

The P.E.I. government did send forestry firefighters over

to the wildfires, but the volunteer members are all over there by choice.

“At 8 p.m. (May 30), Jackie and I had one thought on our mind – going over to help and nothing else,’’ Getson said. “We were going to split the (Confederation) Bridge and gas ourselves and do what we could. We had two sets of fire gear and threw it in the SUV. We then put our brains together as to what we could do over here to help. It was a very last-minute decision.’’

Getson and Best are both residents of Argyle Shore. When word quickly spread through the community, donations started flowing in.

The Argyle Shore Women’s Institute supplied the women with a bridge pass, and donations of clothes, toiletry products, towels and blankets, both for the two women and for people in need. The Cornwall Veterinary Clinic also donated a number of pet items, including dog food.

Getson and Best drove to Bedford, N.S., where they decided to help at a shelter that had been set up at Full Gospel Church. A lot of their time is spent conducting animal rescues with Lisa Parsons, who made headlines after the fire broke out when she ran through the woods and saved 18 dogs in an evacuation zone outside Halifax.

Getson and Best are staying with a family member of Best’s in the area.

Volunteers at the church are also working with Pampered Paws Inn, based in Hammonds Plains, to help people who have animal-related needs, such as supplying pet carriers.

Lena Metlege Diab, the MP for Halifax West, said it’s hard to describe how she feels about what the P.E.I. volunteer firefighters are doing.

“We are very, very, very grateful to the people of Prince Edward Island. Words can’t describe it,’’ Metlege Diab said in a cellphone interview with SaltWire on June 2. “People over here are in a state of shock. With God’s grace, there have been no fatalities, and no one has gone missing. We are so grateful for the firefighters, for the volunteer firefighters, for all

“People over here are in a state of shock. With God’s grace, there have been no fatalities, and no one has gone missing. We are so grateful for the firefighters, for the volunteer firefighters, for all who have come from all areas of P.E.I. Thank God for all of them.’’

Lena Metlege Dia

MP for Halifax West

who have come from all areas of P.E.I. Thank God for all of them.’’

Ben Jessome, the MLA for Hammonds Plains-Lucasville, said in an email that things are so hectic he did not have time for an interview but did have his office send a brief email.

“A huge thank you to these firefighters,’’ a staff member in Jessome’s office said in the email. “We are so appreciative of the support that we are receiving.’’

Getson is not sure how long she and Best will be able to stay.

“It all depends on funds, resources and jobs at home and the people in our families who are taking care of our pets at home,’’ Getson said.