CENTRE WELLINGTON – Centre Wellington Fire Rescue responded to a house fire and to a fall into the Elora Gorge on Tuesday.
Firefighters had to use their rescue skills when a call came in around 8pm on Aug. 27 that someone had fallen from the David Street bridge into the Elora Gorge.
Deputy chief Jonathan Karn said the injured person – a youth – had fallen about 40 feet, “and we had to extricate them from the gorge,” he said.
Because firefighters originally thought it might be a rope rescue, both Fergus and Elora stations attended.
But firefighters were able to access the injured person by using the stairs at Victoria Park and carried them out in a Stokes basket, a special stretcher that is lightweight and transportable.
“The river is quite low, so we were able to walk along the shoreline to the bridge,” Karn explained.
The person was conscious and had sustained injuries, “but none were life threatening,” Karn said.
OPP and emergency medical services also attended, and the patient was transported by ambulance to Groves Memorial Community Hospital.
Firefighters were on scene for about an hour.
“[The youth was] definitely in an area where they were not supposed to be,” Karn said.
“And it was dark. I’m sure that contributed to the fall.”
House fire
Both Fergus and Elora stations responded to a structure fire on Aug. 27 at a home on Sideroad 18 in Fergus.
But by the time Centre Wellington Fire and Rescue arrived, the home’s occupant had extinguished the fire.
“Mostly what we did there was deal with smoke removal,” said deputy chief Jonathan Karn.
The call came in around 5:30pm on Aug. 27 and Karn said there were about 30 firefighters on the scene, which was cleared after about an hour.
The fire started and remained in the basement and the home’s occupant was able to extinguish it.
Karn could not speak to how the fire started or provide a damage estimate, saying only that “the OPP has taken over the investigation.”
OPP spokesperson Sarah McClinchey confirmed police are investigating but would not say more.
“At this time it is too early to determine suspicion, but police are investigating along with fire services,” she said.
