Firefighters from Alnwick/Haldimand Township responded to a fire at the Emterra Environmental Material Recovery Facility on Edwardson Road, just north of Highway 401 near Grafton, on Monday afternoon.
Fire Chief Dave Dawson said crews were initially dispatched at approximately 12:30 p.m. after receiving a report of a fire alarm activation at the facility.
Shortly after the initial call, firefighters were advised there was an active fire inside the building.
Dawson said the facility’s fire protection system functioned as designed, automatically closing the building’s doors when the alarm was activated.
When crews arrived, the building was full of smoke and there was a skid steer on fire inside, said Dawson.
Employees had safely evacuated the building before firefighters arrived.
Hamilton Township Fire Department was called in to provide mutual aid.
“A skid steer inside started smoking. Staff saw it and attempted a few times to put it out,” Dawson said. “When the fire alarms went off, the building was evacuated.”
With temperatures hovering around 30 degrees Celsius, the conditions were especially challenging for firefighters.
“Wearing bunker gear and breathing apparatus was really taxing and really tiring on the firefighters,” Dawson said. “Fortunately, we only had to use a few crews to obtain an advantage on the fire.”
The fire was quickly brought under control, with damage confined to the skid steer. There was no significant damage reported to the building.
While crews were still at the scene of the fire, Alnwick/Haldimand firefighters were dispatched to a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of County Road 22 and County Road 23 in Centreton.
Despite the collision, there were no reported injuries.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
