One firefighter is recovering from injuries after a large fast moving field fire destroyed more than 50 acres of wheat, ruined a fire truck and badly damaged another.
The blaze started on a farm between Caledonia and Hagersville at around 3:00 p.m yesterday afternoon.
Initially, only one station with the Haldimand County Fire Department responded, but officials quickly upgraded the fire, getting help from nearly 100 firefighters from Six Nations, Brant County and Hamilton.
Fire Chief Rob Grimwood said when they arrived they quickly realized they would need help. “So we quickly upgraded to a multi-station response as we started fire suppression efforts there was a really dramatic change in wind direction that caused rapid fire spread started pushing the fire toward numerous building we took a defence posture.”
First responders managed to stop the flames from moving to any nearby buildings and farm equipment but they weren’t so lucky with their own gear.
“Unfortunately during the spread of the fire as a result of the wind shift we had one fire truck completely destroyed and one significantly damaged, “said Grimwood.
The damage estimated for the trucks alone sits at around half a million dollars.
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Nearly 100 firefighters respond to large field fire near Caledonia
CTV Kitchener
Published Saturday, July 23, 2016 2:45PM EDT Last Updated Sunday, July 24, 2016 6:57PM EDT
Published Saturday, July 23, 2016 2:45PM EDT Last Updated Sunday, July 24, 2016 6:57PM EDT