Gambier resident Stuart Watson has been nominated for an Islands Trust Community Stewardship Award for his work to establish a fire-fighting group on the island.
"Stuart proactively responded to a need for fire-fighting capacity on Gambier Island by creating the Gambier Island fire and equipment group to provide fire-fighting equipment and training to Gambier Island residents," the nomination letter states.
"For the last 10 years he has shown a strong sense of duty to his neighbours and to his island by training islanders and finding funding to equip Gambier Island with fire pumps, trailers and all the ancillary equipment necessary to combat forest and house fires."
Watson also created a map of Gambier that shows where the nearest water sources are in the event of a fire, and he set up an email database to keep residents connected in the small community. Most of those residents are part-time users of their properties and the email database has made a big difference, according to Watson's nominator Robert Ostiguy.
"Stuart is generous with his time and readily shares his experiences and knowledge with anyone who shows interest," Ostiguy noted.
Watson said he's pro-active and works to teach others about fire fighting in an effort to keep the island he loves safe.
"My worst form of nightmare is to wake up one day and find our beautiful island burned black by fire. Not a leaf on a tree, not a shrub left standing, nor a blade of green grass to welcome us to our island paradise," he told Coast Reporter this week.
He explained that prior to his arrival on Gambier in 1987, about a dozen neighbours had created a small fire brigade complete with some portable fire pumps to use in the event of an emergency.
"I saw this small group as the answer to preventing my nightmare from becoming a reality," Watson said.
"It was in 1990, a few years after joining this group, that I was voted in as Chief. Over the course of the next 15 years, we invited more and more neighbours to join forces as we expanded the renamed Gambier Fire Equipment Group (GFEG) to include everyone in our neighbouring communities of Gambier Harbour, New Brighton and West Bay that make up the island's south-west peninsula."
He credits his team of dedicated volunteers for any progress made in fire protection on the island, adding he simply led the growth.
"I feel proud to have been nominated as the leader of a fine team of volunteers who care so deeply about protecting our island," he said.
The Islands Trust Community Stewardship Awards recognize individuals and groups for programs or actions that have made a significant contribution toward the Islands Trust.
This year a total of 14 individuals and four groups have been nominated for the honour. Winners will be announced in June at the Trust Council quarterly meeting.
