Cobourg Fire Department responded to a encampment fire on Friday, September 20, 2024.
At approximately 2 p.m. Cobourg Fire Department responded to a brush fire on Brook Road North, just north of the railway tracks.
Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Ashfield said that smoke was showing near a cornfield, east of Brook Road North when fire crews arrived.
It appears that at least one person was living in a encampment near a old barn foundation.
“There was a small campfire area and it looks like they might have left that going and with a bit a wind today it’s picked up and started to burn all their belongings.”
Ashfield said with the foundation burning for a period of time, Hamilton Township was called for support with a tanker to extinguish the flames.
With fire crews working to fully extinguish the fire, they received a medical call, but couldn’t respond.
“This ties up a lot of our resources with a lot of the homeless issues. We’re bringing in a lot of our crews in and some of our part-time firefighters and other townships to help and we are missing some of our calls that our citizens rely on.”
There was no one in the area of the fire when crews arrived on scene.
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
