Firefighters worked in the blazing heat trying to douse the flames of a stubborn fire in Colborne on Thursday, July 10, 2025.
At approximately 2:30 p.m. Cramahe Township Fire Department responded to a fire at the Northumberland Waste Transfer Station just to the north of Purdy Road east of County Road 25.
Cramahe Township Fire Chief Matt Halmasy said the call came in as smoke coming from the Transfer Station.
“When I arrived on scene we had heavy smoke coming from all the bay doors and the sprinklers had been activated.”
One of the workers found a burning pile of debris inside the transfer station and tried removing the burning debris, but by that time the fire had spread.
Brighton Fire Department was also called to assist with the fire.
“These fires are extremely difficult. What makes it difficult is you have to pull everything apart and we can’t get equipment in there while it’s actively burning because it’s just to dangerous.”
There is no way heavy machinery can pull the burning debris out because there is no way to wearing a breathing apparatus while operating the equipment.
“We just have to dump a lot of water on it until it gets to the point where we can get equipment in and start pulling it out.”
Another concern for firefighters was the 30 degree Celsius temperatures.
“One of the main reasons why I called in Brighton (Fire Department) was to cycle firefighters. We go through a lot of firefighters real quick and we have to keep an eye on that.”
“This is the big challenge this time of year. You hope you never get fires like this. It’s incredibly difficult to get the fire out and with all the heat, with all the gear on, that just makes it even worse for the firefighters. When their gear gets saturated with water when they are working under the sprinklers – it makes it even worse.”
Northumberland County Paramedics were on standby during the fire in case any firefighters suffered from heat stroke or other emergency.
When the smoke cleared enough a heavy machine operator pulled the debris out from the building and Halmasy said, “there was a significant amount.”
“As he pulled it out I was surprised how much was in there. It gives you an idea how long this will smolder without being detected.”
At this point Halmasy said he doesn’t believe there was any significant damage to the building, but an engineer will likely be called.
“We haven’t seen anything to indicate (structural damage), but we won’t know until we get everything cleared.”
There will likely be no cause of the fire, but Halmasy said previous fires at Waste Transfer stations have been improperly disposed batteries.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if it was something like this that caused this fire.”
Firefighters cleared the scene at approximately 7 p.m.
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
