Three incidents keep Wellington firefighters busy

Volunteers from the Wellington Fire Department were kept busy with a trio of incidents on Thursday and early Friday morning.

No one was seriously injured in any of the incidents but there was significant damage to property.

The first call came in around 2 p.m. Thursday regarding a shed that was on fire on Route 177 in Mont-Carmel. Desmond Arsenault, spokesman for the department, said this incident was noteworthy because the Route 177 bridge is currently out of service. The detour, “pretty much doubled the distance,” for firefighters, said Arsenault.

By the time firefighters arrived, the shed had been destroyed along with all its contents. The structure was far enough away from the nearby home that the blaze did not spread and firefighters were able to contain it.

A woman had also suffered some burns, but her injuries were described as non-life threatening.

The fire is believed to have been caused by the improper refueling of a piece of lawncare equipment.

Firefighters were again called out around 10 p.m. to what was originally reported as a motor vehicle collision but turned out to be something – odd. Arsenault said that when firefighters arrived on the scene they found a pickup truck stuck on an ATV trail near the closed bridge on Route 177.

It is believed the owner tried to avoid the detour around the bridge by crossing over a nearby smaller bridge used by ATVs. After crossing, the driver’s vehicle got stuck on the trail and they abandoned it.

A nearby resident called the incident in to police, but because it was originally believed to be a motor vehicle collision, firefighters were dispatched as first responders.

Arsenault indicated that firefighters were on scene until around midnight as multiple tow-trucks tried to remove the vehicle from the trail.

Firefighters were called again around 2:30 a.m. Friday to a home on fire in St. Hubert, on Route 127, MacIsaac Road.

By the time firefighters arrived on scene only one of the home’s walls was still standing. The Canadian Red Cross is helping a man who was just in the process of moving into the home. Police and the Provincial Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating the cause of the fire.