The Municipality of Kincardine has implemented new beach safety measures in response to drownings on Station Beach, but two residents pushing for the changes don't think they go far enough.
Kincardine Beach Safety Facebook Page Administrator Blair Brajuha and Kincardine Strong Facebook Page Administrator Meagan Fair have been advocating for change because six people have lost their lives off Station Beach between September of 2008, and August of 2023.
Brajuha explained a southwest wind was creating a rip current during each drowning, including last August, when grandfather Joseph Thompson perished near the South Pier trying to save his grandson. Brajuha believes proper ladders on the pier may have averted the tragedy, and is concerned new ladders have still not been installed.
"They should have been fixed last September, you know, or the next day," she worried. "Our first responders had such a hard time just even saving themselves, let alone trying to save that family. So it's like the outcome could have been so much worse yet we're not even addressing a basic issue that has such an easy solution, and it's just mind boggling."
She stressed there's no excuse for a delay when lives are at stake.
Fair said the municipality is making some progress in updating safety measures at Station Beach.
"Things are starting to change down at Station Beach, but there's still, obviously, a lot more that can be done to help protect people that are are coming to our beaches," she said. "Just so that they have that level of awareness of the environment and what hazards there are out there, even if they can't necessarily see them. So, there's still some more things that need to be done. The ladders are a big piece of that."
In March, Kincardine Council approved spending $92,000 to improve safety. Work is underway on a Beach Blazers program and new life saving stations.
The Municipality has moved the big blue chairs that drew people to the unsafe area on the beach, and stopped maintaining the area south of the south pier. There's also new more visible no swimming signs.
"I think the signage does a lot better job at really identifying where some of the recurring hazards exist. It's not to say that, you know, those hazards don't shift sometimes, just with the weather and rip currents," said Fair. "And so I think a big part of this, too, is just really educating people about what to do in the event that you get caught into a rip current, and so you can actually, you know, survive, and teaching those survival skills to folks so that they can, you know, prevent something tragic from happening."
However, Fair and Brajuha both agree lifeguards are the ultimate solution.
"We certainly have a very dynamic system in Kincardine," Blair explained. "So having lifeguards, I think, would be something that would greatly benefit the community, in a lot of ways. Especially as the community continues to grow and expand and more people move into the community, having lifeguards would, you know, really be one of those ultimate barriers and protection and prevention for drowning."
Fair pointed to the community of Grand Bend, down the shoreline, which has lifeguards in place all summer.
"It's about educating and also painting that picture of what that could look like. I mean, Grand Bend is a really great example of that," she added. "They're situated just south of us. And they have full time lifeguards in the summertime that are there to watch over people. And so I'm sure that that's something that you know would be possible to have in Kincardine."
Fair emphasized the importance of spreading the word about beach safety.
"There are some signs down at the beach that do talk about the protocol that the Life Saving Society and other organizations recommend for surviving any, really, any form of current," Fair pointed out. "Flip onto your back. Float. So take a deep breath in, and follow the current. So just conserve your energy, don't panic and try to stay afloat as long as possible, until you can be rescued or have something that you could grab a hold on to."
Brajuha launched her Kincardine Beach Safety Facebook page to try and spread the word about the dangers of rip currents, especially near both piers. She has also recruited lifeguard Scott Ruddle to bring the message to schools. Kincardine company NPX provided $500 in funding toward that goal, but Brajuha says they want to do more.
"We're hoping to do this full time in the schools, I want to go back in the fall, in the winter, when there's, like, ice shelf stuff. I just need more funding," she said. "NPX gave me $500. I've been using that to print out all my little postcards and stuff. We gave out postcards to every student in those presentations to take home and, yeah, we hope to do it in the fall."