Suspicious fires under investigation in Annapolis County
Investigations are underway following fires that levelled two unoccupied buildings in Annapolis County last weekend.
The most recent call had several firefighters pulling an allnighter battling a blaze in an old barn a local farmer used for storage. RCMP were also on scene.
Scott Veinot, a deputy chief with the Middleton Fire Department, said the fire was reported around 12:23 a.m. April 9.
“The whole building was engulfed in flames, so there was no chance of us saving that building but, in saying that, there was another building probably 60 feet (away) and the wind was blowing the flames into that building,” he said.
“We were able to save that building.”
The barn that burned housed a skid steer and roughly 250 bales of hay, Veinot said.
“The wind was blowing the flames and ashes and embers right into the other building, so for us to save the other building was quite a feat,” he added, noting that there was some valuable farming equipment stored in there.
Earlier that weekend, local firefighters were dispatched to a fully involved structure fire in an abandoned farmhouse along a dirt road in Wilmot at 1:50 a.m. April 7, Veinot said.
“This one is also suspicious in nature,” he added. “That was a complete loss, too. It was completely engulfed when we arrived.”
No one was in either building at the time of the fires, and there were no injuries reported.
Veinot stressed that while the cause of the fires has yet to be confirmed, the matters will be investigated to determine if what happened was “more than a coincidence.”
“It’s dangerous... there’s a huge risk,” he said, noting that fires of that magnitude could result injuries.