Corduroy Brook Nature Trail president Elmo Hewlett arrived at the trail at 6 a.m. Thursday.
He had been alerted to a fire at Gibson’s Field along the trail late Wednesday evening and he wanted to survey the damage.
Hewlett was greeted by the charred planks of wood and leftover concrete blocks as all that remains of the covered picnic building.
Even in the late afternoon, a burnt smell still permeated the site.
“It is disappointing,” said Hewlett.
The building was a replacement for a similar structure in the same place that was destroyed by fire a year earlier.
It was for public use and was a part of a larger playground area around the pond. From the site, the pond and the surrounding wooded area is in complete view.
It also gave trail hikers a place to rest.
“We replaced the building for the good of the people and for the camps we were planning on running, and here someone goes and burns it down again,” said Hewlett.
In the wake of the fire, he wasn’t sure if the building was going to be replaced again.
Firefighters received a call of a structure fire at Gibson’s Field just before midnight on Wednesday. They used an all-terrain vehicle to get to the area of the trail and a mobile pump to fight the fire.
Upon their arrival, firefighters found the structure engulfed in flames and part of it on the ground. They spent the next 90 minutes fighting the fire and left the scene early Thursday morning.
“It had been burning for awhile,” said Grand Falls-Windsor Fire Department Fire Chief Vince MacKenzie.
Members of the Grand Falls-Windsor RCMP and the K-9 Unit attended the scene as a part of their investigation into the cause.
In a prepared statement, the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor expressed its disappointment that the fire occurred.
“We are disheartened that this structure has been lost for the second time in just 14 months. It was the cornerstone of Gibson’s Field and a highlight of the Corduroy Brook Nature Trail,” the statement read.
The town thanked first responders for their work to extinguish the blaze and reminded residents to monitor their properties for any suspicious activity.
In the last couple of years, the Town of Grand Falls-Windsor has seen its fair share of fires in the community. Since 2017, there have been more than a dozen fires in the town.
While it is too early to link this fire to any of the previous ones or determine whether it was set intentionally, it is concerning to people.
“It is concerning as fire chief because I feel it is only a matter of time before someone gets hurt or one of my firefighters is going to get seriously injured,” said MacKenzie.
In a news release, the RCMP indicated the cause of the fire is being investigated.
Police also said the local detachment is investigating several suspicious fires that have occurred in the region.
“Again, we’re appealing to the public that if they’ve noticed anything or to be very vigilant and to come forward with any information no matter how small they think it is, to report it to the RCMP,” said MacKenzie.
Anyone with information about the fires is asked to call the police at 709-489-2121 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Nicholas Mercer is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter covering central Newfoundland for SaltWire Network.
