Latest news with #GregMcCormick
CTV News
13-07-2025
- General
- CTV News
‘Please stay well away': Fire chief advises onlookers to let crews work following fire in Stratford, P.E.I.
A home was destroyed by a fire in Stratford, P.E.I., Friday night. The Cross Roads Fire Department, which serves several communities in and around the Stratford area, was called to the fire on Harvest Drive shortly before 9 p.m. Crews were on scene until around 4 a.m. Saturday managing hotspots and flare ups. Chief Greg McCormick said crews were called back to the scene around 6:30 a.m. to deal with another flare up. 'The house is a total loss,' he said. McCormick said the homeowner and his daughter were home when the fire broke out. 'Fortunately, they were uninjured. They were able to get out of the house,' he told CTV News. 'Unfortunately, they've lost most of their possessions.' Fire in Stratford, P.E.I. A fire destroyed a home on Harvest Drive in Stratford, P.E.I., on Friday, July 11, 2025. (Submitted) He said the two were assisted by the Canadian Red Cross following the fire. No firefighters were injured despite difficult circumstances, including the large size of the fire. 'It's always challenging to fight a fire. It's doubly so when it's a nice summer's evening in July, you know, it's a warm evening. It makes it very hard on the crews, very exhausting work and then add trying to get the trucks in and out and having to navigate more cars just makes it even more so,' he said. 'That piece really doesn't have to happen.' 'Please stay well away' McCormick said another challenge crews faced were groups of people getting too close to the scene. 'We encountered a lot of onlookers. That area of Stratford is very densely populated. It's perhaps one of the more densely populated neighborhoods in the town, and there were quite a number of people out on some of the streets,' he said. 'Crews encountered heavy traffic, just people parked on the side of the road.' He's now using this as an opportunity to advise people to let firefighters work. 'Please don't park on the side of the road when the fire trucks are trying to make their way back and forth to the scene. We had to shuttle water into that area for a couple of trucks that couldn't connect the hydrant because of where they parked. So, it just made that challenging.' Fire in Stratford, P.E.I. A fire destroyed a home on Harvest Drive in Stratford, P.E.I., on Friday, July 11, 2025. (Submitted) McCormick said there were also reports of a vehicle driving over a fire hose more than once, which can be dangerous if the hose were to burst. 'Please stay well away and don't drive over fire hoses.' McCormick said mutual aid was brought in from both the Vernon River and Charlottetown fire departments. They were also assisted by Stratford RCMP and Island EHS. The investigation into the cause of the fire has been turned over to the P.E.I. Fire Marshals Office. For more P.E.I. news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Fire chief cautions onlookers after crews impeded from house fire scene in Stratford
The chief of the Cross Roads Fire Department is reminding Islanders to be aware around fire scenes after firefighters were impeded from getting to a house fire on Friday in Stratford. The Cross Roads department, along with Vernon River and Charlottetown departments, responded to the fire on Harvest Drive at around 8:50 p.m. The house was destroyed but the occupants escaped uninjured. Greg McCormick said first responders encountered a large crowd of onlookers at the scene. "The volume of traffic and the volume of people did create some impediments for the fire apparatus to get through," he said. "And in some cases we actually had reports that some of our hoses were driven over by cars, kind of exiting out of the area." He said he wants to remind Islanders to keep their distance while firefighters respond. "These sort of calls are very, very intense," he said. "We would ask that if they are going to kind of travel up there, be aware that there's fire apparatus going back and forth, and park out of the way, or better yet just don't go up there at all. Stay well back and observe what you can from a distance. Just let us do our job." Investigation underway He said answering a fire call is difficult enough without added complications. McCormick said the house was "heavily involved in fire" when crews arrived. He said several tankers, a rescue truck and support were called in from the Vernon River and the Charlottetown fire departments. One crew had an aerial device. "Crews were on scene until about 1 a.m. just dealing with hotspots, and we did end up going back this morning around 6:30 to deal with a rekindle," he said. He believes the occupants of the home had family and friends to stay with for the night. McCormick said neighbours were affected by heat and smoke, though they were able to return to their homes. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the fire marshal's office.
