U Windsor project helps prevent drownings in Kincardine

For the second summer in a row, no one drowned at Kincardine’s Station Beach.

“Fortunately, no there wasn’t. We were called out for rescues a number of times. Twice we put rescuers into the water to help someone struggling,” said Kincardine Fire Chief Brad Lemaich.

To prevent drownings and the risk associated with water rescues, Kincardine brought in experts from the University of Windsor this summer to gather wind, water, current and wave data, to ultimately provide a real-time warning system of dangerous swimming conditions for beach goers.

“Especially targeting people that don’t live in Kincardine. We know there’s lots of day trippers. Our beaches are becoming more and more of a popular tourist attraction,” said Becky Smith with the Bruce County based Municipal Innovation Council which is helping to fund the project.

During year one of Kincardine’s Smart Beach project, local knowledge was confirmed. Waves reached over two metres in September and rip currents were common place on some of the most turbulent days.

“Any data that we have that allows us a predictive modelling tool or to know better what is happening under the surface of the water, allows us to be smarter in our rescue efforts and enhance the safety of our firefighters,” said Lemaich.

The next step is how best to communicate that to beach goers. Researchers will spend the winter training a machine learning model to predict dangerous waves and rip currents.

“We want to make sure we’re reaching those people that are not from the area,” added Smith.

Kincardine plans to have a warning system in place by the end of the three-year pilot project but anticipate other Bruce County beaches will jump on board next summer as well.

“It’s really the first of its kind in North America. It’s something we feel could be scalable or replicated around the Great Lakes to improve water safety,” said Smith.

Since 2010, over 1,000 people have drowned in the Great Lakes in Canada and United States.

Kincardine’s three-year Smart Beach Project will cost approximately $400,000.