CENTRE WELLINGTON – A renovation company’s vehicle and all the tools inside were destroyed by fire after the truck hit a bridge on the 8th Line here on Wednesday.
Fire crews from the Elora station responded to a report of a vehicle fire at 9am on June 5, and soon learned the cause of the fire was a single-vehicle collision, said Centre Wellington deputy fire chief Jonathan Karn.
“A vehicle that was travelling northbound on 8th Line came in contact with the guard rail,” he told the Advertiser.
The guard rail, at the entrance to a bridge between Wellington Road 18 and Middlebrook Road, did its job of preventing the truck from ending up in the creek, but when the vehicle subsequently hit the bridge, “that’s what started the engine compartment on fire,” Karn said.
Five occupants of the vehicle all managed to get out without injuries, he added.
“If they had been trapped in the vehicle, that could have been a very different scenario,” Karn noted.
Between the cost of the vehicle and the renovation tools inside, the damage could be “upwards of $100,000,” he said.
Firefighters were on scene for a little under two hours, and the road was closed between Wellington Road 18 and Middlebrook Road.
OPP and paramedics were also on scene, and the public works department also attended to help contain water to prevent runoff into the creek.
Karn said water used to douse the fire was contained using sand and absorbent socks, and the incident was reported to the Ministry of the Environment.
“There was no further follow-up that was required,” he said.
