We have been following a social media post that has elicited thousands of comments and shares on Facebook. The post is written by South River resident Linda Weaver. Sadly, her dog, Brody, fell through ice and was unable to be rescued. In the post, she alleges that while on scene South River Fire Chief Risto Maki made inappropriate or unprofessional comments.
A portion of her post reads: “The fire chief showed up in a pair of blue jeans and his fire hat and his walky (sic) talky. I told him he could drive right down to the beach, he said he doesn’t have to as he is not doing anything. My husband asked WHY, the fire chief informed us that The South River Fire Department does not make water or ice rescues whether it is an animal or person. My husband asked what do you do, the fire chief answered WE WATCH THEM DIE AND THEN GO HOME. Another fire man appeared but did not say anything.”
The post describes how Linda’s husband, Dennis, attempted to get to Brody by boat. They allege that Chief Maki said, “…if you fall in the water we can’t save you,” and “…Brody (tried) to keep swimming and trying to break the ice, but OUR FIRE CHIEF AND VOLUNTEER from the SOUTH RIVER FIRE DEPARTMENT were standing in the same place and not saying a word.”
Weaver says that the fire department offered to contact Victim’s Services but felt that the offer was insincere.
The Village of South River issued a statement on Facebook but say that their page has been taken down for unknown reasons. The statement says:
“On January 2nd, the South River Machar Fire Department received a distress call regarding a dog that had fallen through the ice. The caller was informed that, regrettably, our fire department does not conduct animal rescues due to the substantial risk of serious injury to our firefighters. Nevertheless, two staff members attended the scene to assess and ensure the safety of the owners or any bystanders.
Upon arrival, our staff met with the pet owner and reiterated that, due to safety concerns for our firefighters, we would be unable to perform the rescue. We want to assure you that all communications our staff had with the owners were conducted in a professional and compassionate manner. We acknowledge the difficulty of this decision for pet owners and empathize with the emotional challenge it poses for all members of the fire department. Unfortunately, the inherent risks associated with such incidents prevent us from allowing owners or bystanders to jeopardize their lives.
It is crucial to recognize that areas with significant current present substantial dangers for ice water rescue operations. Tragically, there have been instances of firefighter fatalities during swift water rescue training within our Province in recent years.
In conclusion, we must consistently conduct a risk analysis for all emergency responses to prioritize the safety of our firefighters. However, when there is a human life at risk and within our capability to save, our firefighters will always step forward and take necessary actions to ensure every effort is made to preserve that life.”
Don McArthur, Clerk-Administrator
The Village of South River
705BLACKFLY.COM spoke to Don McArthur via telephone about the Facebook post. He expressed his sympathy over the loss of the Weavers’ pet and says that the village is “pretty heartbroken over how this is unfolding on social media.”
In response to the allegations against Chief Maki, McArthur said, “We think that in distress the Weaver family has taken some things out of context. I’ve known the fire chief for some time, I’ve seen him work in very stressful situations with the public, with mental illness, and he is a passionate, caring individual that has saved many lives, and he really does not deserve these comments.”
McArthur also acknowledged that the fire department faces challenges when it comes to funding for training volunteer firefighters.
“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.” McArthur said. “Those are kind of the hard decisions that municipalities have to make about where the resources are. One of the biggest challenges is that they are a volunteer firefighter force so to bring them up to that level would require a tremendous commitment on their behalf over and above the cost of the training itself and then maintaining it. It’s a very difficult, challenging rescue to do.”
705BLACKFLY.COM has reached out to the Weavers but they have not yet responded. Their post is asking members of the public to attend council meetings in Joly Township and South River to address this incident. There will be a council meeting in South River on January 23rd.
We will continue to follow this story and bring you updates.
