Beavers and a Tim’s card: a very Canadian solution to a firefighting challenge

In a unique display of interspecies cooperation, a rural fire department in Nova Scotia, Canada, has found an ingenious solution to its water supply challenges by collaborating with a local beaver family. The Indian Point Volunteer Fire Department, established in 1955, has long sought to install a dry hydrant off Oakland Road but faced obstacles.

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We thought, why don’t we get in cahoots with the beavers and see what we can do?

Chief Tom Lockwood explained the urgency, citing a series of severe fires across the province in recent years. The primary hurdle was the presence of a beaver dam in a nearby marsh, which had created a substantial freshwater reservoir over more than 25 years. Installing a traditional dry hydrant would have required drilling through the dam, a prospect the department wanted to avoid.

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The situation here in the province is really quite dire because so many of our small communities, which are in the forested areas, are where the fires are.

Instead, the firefighters approached RPS Composites, a pipe system manufacturer, for a novel design. After an initial consultation, the company agreed to fabricate the system for free in exchange for $100 worth of coffee for their staff, a testament to the community's collaborative spirit. The resulting hydrant operates like a see-saw, with its suspended end dipping into the water when needed, allowing firefighters to connect and draw water without disturbing the natural dam.

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They’re the ones who have really preserved it and prevented, through their dams, the water draining out.

This "symbiotic relationship," as Chief Lockwood calls it, is a testament to nature's ingenuity and community problem-solving. The project, installed last fall, involved contributions from Nova Scotia Power, the provincial highway department, the Harrison family who own the land, and numerous local businesses. The beavers, through their diligent dam-building, have inadvertently provided a vital resource, ensuring the community's safety while remaining undisturbed.

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I think it’s marvelous. They don’t bother us. We don’t bother them. They’re happy as can be and so are we.