CENTRE WELLINGTON – Centre Wellington Fire and Rescue volunteers were busy this past weekend, but no one was injured and all fires were extinguished with minimal property damage.
On May 26 at around 9:30am, firefighters were called to Husky Farm Equipment on Wellington Road 17 in Alma.
Workers were in the building welding when a spark lept into a wall starting a fire.
Workers removed parts of the wall and ceiling in an attempt to extinguish the fire.
“There was no active fire when we arrived although there was smoke in the building,” deputy fire chief Jonathan Karn said by phone.
“We checked for fire and removed the smoke and returned the building to the owner.”
Crews were back to the station within 90 minutes, said Karn, who pegged the damage at “a few thousand dollars.”
Grass fire
On May 27 shortly after 1pm, staff at the Centre Wellington Community Sportsplex noticed a grass fire in the campground section of the grounds and called 911.
Staff used extinguishers to control the fire and it was mostly out when firefighters arrived.
“I’m not sure what started it. Lots of people use the trail and kids play back there. It could have been a number of things. But it was not from a campfire,” Karn said.
Firefighters were on scene for about an hour.
Barn fire
A passerby called in a barn fire at 9:55pm on May 27 on the 2nd Line East.
“When we arrived, the owner was on site and was dismantling a barn and burning the wood,” Karn said. “That is outside the parameters of a burn permit, so we extinguished the fire.”
Karn said any large fire has to be pre-approved for a permit and that did not happen in this case.
“We have an avenue to issue fines or invoice for vehicles,” he said, adding Elora and Fergus stations automatically respond to barn fires together, meaning there could be six or seven vehicles and 30 firefighters on scene.
“It does cost money to attend these calls. … The fire prevention officer is following up and will make that call.”
Brush fire
Firefighters also responded to a brush fire at Sideroad 10 and 4th Line East on May 27 at around 3pm. The fire was in a ditch at the side of road and Karn suspects it started from a discarded cigarette.
He added that even though the grass looks pretty green right now, underneath there is still dead and dry material that’s flammable.
“We would remind people that during these dry conditions, discarding a cigarette out the car window can very easily lead to fire in ditches.
“It’s fortunate that the fire wasn’t moving, but it was definitely burning,” he said.
