may 54. The Summer of 1960

By 1960 the older children had moved away from home to starta life of their own. LeRoy had married his sweetheart, Kathleen Gaudet, and they had bought a tiny house further along the DeBlois Road. LeRoy would later build a house on the lot next to it. Edna had moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she would meet her future husband, Joe Martell. Velda and Ida were still working at the Western Hospital. Helen was living in Charlottetown, where she was studying to become a teacher at St. Dunstan’s University. Ivan, Dennis, Eileen and Joan were still at home.

The summer of 1960 had been an extremely dry summer. It was so dry that there had been brush fires flaring up in various parts of P.E.I.* There was a brush fire raging out of control in the DeBlois area. It had started along a stretch of woodland. This tract of wood was several miles from residential area. However, at the rate it was spreading, there was reason for concern. If not contained, it could eventually reach the homes in DeBlois Road. Every able- bodied man/youth in DeBlois and surrounding areas came together to help fight the fire. They loaded barrels of water on trucks to be transported to the fire. The strategy was to prevent the fire from spreading further, by digging trenches and soaking the earth around the blazed area. By doing this, the men were able to contain the fire to one area. Several days passed until finally the rain came, and dampened the ground enough to put out the fire.

During the time when the DeBlois fire had raged at its worst peak, there was a rumor in the community that the world was coming to an end by fire. Someone in the community had told Alphy and Margurita that there was a prediction that these were the last days. The man had expressed that the fire was only one of the signs. He quipped that other signs he had heard about were: there would be complete darkness in the daytime; and the world would be

overtaken by insects. * One other area of brush fire in 1960 was the wooded area of Miscouche.

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