Norfolk County volunteer firefighters battled five structure fires at three different properties including one at a downtown Simcoe apartment overnight.
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“It was a pretty eventful night for us,” Assistant Fire Chief James Robertson said. “We had seven stations from Norfolk County and two stations from Brant County and 24 trucks responded to the fires.
“It was a long night.”
Norfolk County has 11 stations and volunteer firefighters from seven of them were at one or in some cases more than one fire.
“They’re all volunteers and they have regular jobs,” Robertson said. “They have to get up in the morning to go to work.
“They’re going to be extremely tired today (Wednesday).”
Robertson praised the firefighters for their hard work and dedication to the community.
Robertson said two volunteer firefighters were injured with non-life threatening injuries. Both are expected to make a full recovery.
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The first fire call came in at about 10:30 pm and was on a Windham East Quarter Line farm where two vacant buildings were burning.
On Wednesday damage to the roof of a home could be seen from the fence line.
Two hours later, at about 1 am Nov. 13, Norfolk firefighters were called to a fire at a Windham Road 13 farm where two vacant buildings were on fire. The buildings that burned down to the ground appeared to have been sheds or outbuildings.
Robertson said all of the buildings were on a farm but declined to elaborate further. Those fires are being investigated by Norfolk OPP.
At 3 am, a fire was reported in an apartment on Norfolk Street.
The building was occupied at the time, and the resident was able to escape safely. Firefighters also rescued a cat from the building and provided care at the scene
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Robertson said the apartment fire caused an estimated $50,000 damage and the cause is under investigation but the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal will not be attending the scene.
Roads surrounding the fires were closed for several hours but have since reopened.
Anyone with information about the fires is asked to call Norfolk OPP at 1-888-310-1122. Those who wish to remain anonymous are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or leave an anonymous online tip at www.helpsolvecrime.com to become eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000.
Meanwhile, Norfolk County fire is reminding residents to maintain working smoke alarms and exercise caution when charging electronic devices. Residents are urged to follow manufacturer instructions when charging cell phones, tablets, and game controllers.
Damaged charging cables should be replaced, and overheated devices should be disconnected until they can be repaired. For safety, always charge devices on a hard surface and unplug them once fully charged, fire department officials say.
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