Four people escaped with minimal injuries in a fire at the scene of a native occupation on the northern outskirts of town here this week.
Volunteer firefighters from Tyendinaga Township were dispatched to the Thurlow Aggregates quarry site on Deseronto Road around 7 a.m. Monday after fire broke out in a wooden building near the entrance of the site.
According to protester Shawn Brant, who initially led the occupation last March, the building was used as a cookhouse by natives occupying the quarry.
At the time of the fire, the four people inside the structure managed to escape without serious injuries, Brant said.
"There were a few singed eyebrows and hair ... it was close, really close."
Tyendinaga Township firefighters initially dispatched to the scene were turned away, Brant added, only because they arrived with a "convoy of OPP (vehicles) that raised a number of eyebrows ... in large numbers. More than you would expect for a small structure fire."
An OPP spokeswoman, however, painted a different scenario when asked about the police agency's response to the fire.
"There was a police cruiser that responded to a call," Sgt. Kristine Rae told The Intelligencer.
The lone cruiser, she said, "cleared the scene when it was told it was no longer required."
Either way, Brant said the township firefighters wouldn't have been able to access the site because a "town truck plowing the road closed the entrance way to the quarry (with snow)," he said.
A short time later a number of community members from the nearby reserve - including Brant himself - attended the scene along with volunteers from the Mohawk fire department, who were allowed on the scene.
"I wanted to be there to make sure everything was all right ... and no one was hurt," he said, adding a plow was brought in from the reserve to clear a path.
Brant, who is on strict court conditions to stay off the quarry property, said he watched the scene unfold from nearby at the side of Deseronto Road.
"When we built that shack we weren't expecting to be forging through a winter out there," he explained. "So obviously, a permanent safe building for the people ... is in the future."
As the first anniversary of the occupation draws near, Brant said spirits are high at the site - despite the frigid temperatures.
"It's been a gruelling winter (for protesters) and people should respect that."
Brant said cigarette sales are no longer taking place at the site.
"Which I think is a clear indication that this (occupation) is not all about money," he said.
Removing the commercial aspect also signifies that those participating in the demonstration are willing "to walk away from it (actions) when it's not effective or advancing the cause," he said.