Gasoline fumes are to blame for a Feb. 21 fire that destroyed a large farm shed on Sideroad 7W near Kenilworth.
Arthur and Mount Forest fire stations responded to a 911 call for a structure fire just after 5pm on Tuesday night.
Around 45 firefighters from Mount Forest, Arthur, Drayton, Moorefield, Harriston and Palmerston helped put out the blaze.
“When we arrived (there was) heavy black smoke and fire showing,” said Wellington North Fire Chief Dave Guilbault.
He said the fire was sparked by gasoline fumes.
“It was a piece of farm equipment; they were draining gasoline and there was an oxyacetylene torch nearby … and that was lit … and the fumes worked their way over to the open flames and then we got a little bit of an explosion and a resulting fire,” Guilbault told the Advertiser.
There were no injuries to residents or firefighters.
The 16,000-square-foot steel shed housed mostly farm equipment, but Guilbault said the fire crew was concerned about the house nearby. He estimated the shed damage to be about $500,000 plus $10,000 damage to the siding of the house.
Guilbault said access to water was difficult and fire crews used water from seven tankers to fight the blaze.
