Kentville Fire Chief Shawn Ripley is advising motorists to use extreme caution in the vicinity of road construction on Highway 1 in Coldbrook - and to take an alternate route if possible.

He said there are lots of traffic problems arising, including a head-on collision Sept. 14. There were no injuries, but there was a fluid spill. Ripley said someone driving a considerable distance down the centre left turning lane struck someone else in the lane preparing to make a turn.

Kentville firefighters played an integral role in rescuing a woman in cardiovascular distress from the dykes beside the Cornwallis River below the Fox Hill subdivision last week.

The woman couldn’t breathe. Firefighters were able to get a half tonne truck to her location and loaded her on back to be taken to a point the ambulance could access. She was then transported to hospital.

Kentville responded to a number of other miscellaneous calls for assistance last week, including a couple of false building alarms, a false alarm sounding at a residence and three false alarms at the Kings Arms Pub.

Kentville firefighters responded just before 12:30 a.m. to an apartment fire early Sept. 25 on Chester Avenue. The first crews on the scene found fire in the doorway of a first-floor apartment, with flames coming out a window and traveling up the side of the building to a second floor apartment. The fire was knocked down quickly, but there was heavy damage to two units of the three-storey building and smoke damage throughout the 12 apartments. More than a dozen people were evacuated from the building. Several were taken to the Kentville fire station for the night, where the Red Cross and the town’s EMO department looked after setting up accommodations for the night. Other tenants were able to find alternate places to stay. There were no injuries. The tenant of the apartment where the fire started could not be found during the blaze, but was not inside the unit. Police were trying to locate him overnight. Fire officials say the blaze is suspicious, but the cause has not been determined.

The Canning fire department responded to a cottage fire on the Gospel Woods Road in Arlington early Sept. 16. The department and the provincial Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating the cause. Kentville and Port Williams responded in mutual aid.

Canning responded to a fire alarm sounding on the J. Jordan Road Sept. 18.

Wolfville firefighters responded to a call about electrical wires arcing and trees on fire in Grand Pre at 3:32 p.m. Sept. 15. Conditions were windy at the time.

Wolfville was called to investigate a fire in Wallbrook that turned out to be a controlled burn at 12:58 a.m. Sept. 16.

Later that day, at 4:20 p.m., Wolfville responded to a single-vehicle rollover on the River Road in Melanson. MacLeod said members of his department assisted EHS paramedics and the RCMP at the scene.

The Waterville and District Fire Department has answered six alarms since the beginning of September.

September 3, there was a silent alarm at the Kings County airport. A farily large outdoor fire was reported around 23:00 on airport property and was investigated.

September 4 at 16:47, a fire alarm sounded at the Kings Regional Rehabilitation Centre. The alarm was cancelled at 16:49.

At 17:26 September 5, a fire alarm at New Covenant Community Church on Highway 1 in Cambridge. Firefighters were busy for a few minutes determining the cause of the alarm. Crews returned at 18:31.

September 6 at 19:40, a mutual aid call was received from Berwick for a barn fire on the Pleasant Valley Road. Fire crews and equipment returned at 23:59.

September 23 at 4:25, there was a mutual aid call from Berwick for a tanker and pumper to a house fire on Brooklyn Street in Weston. Crews were back just before 5:30.

Look for Waterville firefighters canvassing Woodville, Grafton and Black Rock areas this week. The first fall auction is Saturday at the Woodville Community Centre, starting outside at 10:30 a.m. This is the auction where homemade cherry pies are like gold. The department welcomes new bidders! Last year, MLA Mark Parent joined the challenge. The second auction will be October 13 at the fire hall in Cambridge.

eptember 23 at 4:20 a.m., the Berwick and District Fire Department was called out to a house fire at 3531 Brooklyn St. in Weston. As firefighters arrived, they were met by a neighbor telling them the home owner was out and the fire was in the basement. Smoke was coming from the home. The fire was attacked from an outside entrance to the basement and brought under control very quickly. Waterville and Aylesford fire departments were called to send pumpers and tankers to the scene. Berwick remained at the scene until 6:30 a.m. The fire marshal was called to investigate.