Dennis and Linda Weaver are expected to speak at a council meeting tomorrow in South River about their allegations that actions by Fire Chief Risto Maki resulted in their dog’s death.
The Weaver says South River-Machar firefighters stood by as their 10-year-old Golden Retriever, Brody, drowned on January 2nd in four feet of water in South River. A Facebook post reads, “At 2 p.m. (Jan 2) our dog Brody was chasing a bird and ran out on the ice on the river and fell through.”
The Village of South River stated 705BLACKFLY.COM on January 11th stating that a rescue could not be performed due to safety concerns for the firefighters, and that “inherent risks associated with such incidents prevent us from allowing owners or bystanders to jeopardize their lives.”
Reports say that the Weavers’ home is situated along fast-moving swift water, making the situation dangerous. Don McArthur, Clerk-Administrator of The Village of South River told us, ““We spend a lot of money to train our fire department and unfortunately it’s not possible to do swift current rescue training and bring them up to a level that would be required.”
We spoke with McArthur again this morning and he issued the following statement:
“An internal review of the events of January 2, 2024, and a Code of Conduct investigation has been completed and no violations of any policy or procedure of the South River Machar Fire Department or the Village of South River were found. Mayor Coleman looks forward to the delegation from the Weavers on how training and funding can be done to add animal and swift water rescue to the services offered to the residents of the Township of Joly, Machar, and Village of South River. Our deepest sympathies go out to the Weaver family as they deal with their loss.”
The public meeting takes place on January 23rd in South River, 63 Marie Street at 2 PM.
