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Families that celebrated Canada Day at Ottawa’s Petrie Island beach are watching their children for symptoms of E. coli infection after firefighters sprayed them with water contaminated with the bacteria.
High bacterial levels measured in the Ottawa River Monday kept all four beaches on the river closed on Canada Day.
Most people at Petrie Island in Ottawa’s east end took care to avoid the water despite the warm, sunny weather.
When crews of volunteers from the Ottawa Fire Department arrived and used their fire hoses to cool off the crowd, many laughed and ran about, seemingly delighted – until they found out the water was being pumped straight from the river.
Liz Demelo, whose preschool-age son was one of the children playing under the spray, was upset she wasn’t warned about the source of the water.
“I have definite issues around that as I have a three-year-old who doesn’t necessarily know that he shouldn’t swallow water when he’s playing through the water that is being pumped,” she said.
Municipal water brought in
After CBC contacted the fire department about the issue, firefighters stopped using river water and brought in trucks carrying tanks of municipal water.
Ottawa Fire Services sector Chief Irvin Sunstrum said firefighters have been helping celebrate Canada Day at Petrie Island for years, and have always pumped water from the river.
“And again, we started this year, not realizing the beach was shut down,” he said. “I never checked, we just went ahead as in past practice.”
He added that the fire department was just trying to offer enjoyment to the kids, never intended to endanger anyone and will check for beach closures if it repeats the event.
However, the department isn’t sure it will be back next year, as it isn’t worth organizing all its volunteers when the safety of the water is unpredictable.