On Friday April 17th, 2009, the Friends of Hullett conducted their first prescribed burn. This was done in partnership with the Huron Stewardship Council, Middlesex Stewardship Council and the Clinton, Seaforth, Blyth, Hensall and Exeter Fire Departments. A training course was held at the marsh on April 4th and 5th for Low Complexity prescribed burns.
Cale Selby, Middlesex Steardship Coordinator, was our burn boss. Cale had submitted the burn plans to the Ontarion Ministry of Natural Resources. Once approval for the burns was given, we kept a close watch on the weather. Prescribed burns are very weather dependant and in order to have an effective burn, the weather has to be within a certain window. The burn breaks (tilled area around the burn site) were completed and we were waiting on the weather. The volunteers met at the Hullett office and Cale gave a briefing on what would be happining and the placement of workers. At 8:30 am, the volunteers headed out to fields to set up for the day. The burn comenced at 9:30 am and 4 fields were burnt in total. The fire was declared out at around 2:30 pm and wvweryone headed back to the office for lunch and a debriefing.