Structure fires keep local firefighters busy

BY KIRK STARRATT

kstarratt@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

Structure fires, including a barn fire on Church Street just outside Kentville and a mobile home fire on the Greenfield Road in Gaspereau, kept local firefighters busy last week.

Kentville Fire Chief Shawn Ripley said his department responded to the barn fire on Church Street Wednesday night, Aug. 20, just before midnight. He said the structure was a total loss.

The cause was electrical in nature. Ripley said hay being stored in the barn caught fire. There was no insurance on the barn and the estimated value of the items lost in the fire is between $40,000 and $60,000. Ripley said the hay, to be used for cattle, and antique farm equipment being stored in the building that the owner had apparently intended to donate to Ross Farm Museum, was lost in the blaze.

Mutual aid was called in from the New Minas, Greenwich, Wolfville, Port Williams, Canning and Waterville and District fire departments.

The following day, Kentville firefighters responded to a call about a tree stump on fire at the same property. An electrical issue apparently caused the stump fire. Ripley said the electrical line feeding the barn ran through the stump.

Elsewhere, Wolfville Fire Chief Tim MacLeod said his department responded to a fire in a mobile home on Greenfield Road in Gaspereau Friday afternoon, Aug. 15. Mutual aid was called in from the Greenwich, New Minas, Hantsport and Port Williams fire departments.

Ripley said Kentville firefighters responded to seven calls regarding carbon monoxide (CO) alarm and smoke alarm systems sounding between Friday afternoon, Aug. 15 and Friday afternoon, Aug. 22.

Kentville responded to a motor vehicle collision on Cornwallis Street at the bottom of Gallows Hill Thursday night, Aug. 21. Ripley said one vehicle apparently ran a red light and struck another vehicle. There were minor injuries involved and firefighters had to employ the Jaws of Life to extricate one female.

Wolfville firefighters responded to a call that came in as a house was struck by lightning on Newtonville Road Tuesday, Aug. 19. MacLeod said the lightning actually hit a nearby power pole, blowing out a fuse.

Canning firefighters responded to a call for medical assistance on North Avenue, Canning, Thursday, Aug. 21.

New Minas firefighters responded to a smoke alarm sounding on Dunbrack Street, New Minas, Sunday, Aug. 17. They responded also Monday, Aug. 18 to a call about a manhole cover out of place on Turner Drive.

New Minas responded to a two-vehicle collision by the Ken-Wo Golf and Country Club on Commercial Street Wednesday, Aug. 20.