Fire causes about $50,000 in damage

CENTRE WELLINGTON - An early morning fire in a wood storage building here on Feb. 5 was put out before it entered the attached home.

Fergus and Elora firefighters were called at about 7:40am on Tuesday to a structure fire on the 5th Line, south of Sideroad 25.

Centre Wellington deputy fire chief Jonathan Karn said the blaze started in a firewood storage building attached to a house.

“We prevented extension; the fire did not get into the home, which was good,” Karn said.

However, the fire was “stubborn” because it travelled throughout the firewood into areas fire hoses couldn’t reach, he added.

It made the job more labour intensive to remove the piled wood.

Karn said the exterior of the home may look damaged “but nothing that would necessarily need fixing.

“It was brick wall on the outside, which is good, and foundation so that certainly stopped the fire from spreading into the house.”

Karn said ashes from the weekend are the suspected cause of the fire.

“We haven’t confirmed that, but there would be really nothing else in that building that likely would have caused that,” he said.

The wood shed was destroyed with a damage estimate of $50,000.

A total of 27 firefighters were on the scene, with Centre Wellington crews joined by Grand Valley firefighters.

To prevent similar fires Karn said ashes should be discarded outside, away from combustible materials.

“Soaking the ashes with water to ensure complete extinguishment is also a good idea,” he added.