WELSFORD, NS - When firefighters arrived at a farm in Welsford Dec. 15, flames had already engulfed the building.
Waterville firefighters were called to the scene on Highway 221, just west of the Black Rock Road, at about 6:45 a.m. Fire department spokesman Kevin Ernest says that when they arrived shortly afterward, the building was “completely engulfed.”
The structure, which was used to house tractors, machinery and other farm tools, was about 25 feet by 40 feet and had metal siding, which posed a problem for firefighters battling the blaze.
“That metal siding, it keeps the fire within,” he said.
In order to completely extinguish the fire, the building had to be knocked down with an excavator. It was a complete loss, Ernest said.
No animals were housed in the building and no one was hurt in the blaze, he said.
“There were a couple of buildings, another barn and a house, that were nearby, but they weren’t damaged,” Ernest said. “Everything, in terms of winds and the like, were working in our favour.”
Residents of the nearby home were asleep and didn’t notice the fire immediately, he said, but the sight of the flames prompted a passerby to call in the alarm.
Firefighters from Aylesford to Kentville were called to the scene to help fight the fire. Most of the support came in the form of shuttling water to the scene from a pond in nearby Grafton, Ernest said.
Firefighters were busy Dec. 15, with many departments also responding to a head-on collision on Highway 101. Read more here: http://www.kingscountynews.ca/news/local/lifeflight-flies-injured-to-hospital-after-head-on-collision-closes-highway-in-new-minas-170541/
The fire is currently being investigated by the fire marshal’s office and the fire department.
“It becomes more difficult to determine an exact cause when you have an excavator involved but because of the loss, it has to be investigated,” Ernest said.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.
