High demands on Quinte West firefighters do not appear to be waning during what is proving to be a very busy year so far.
Quinte West firefighters from Station 1 responded to their third on-scene fire in Quinte this week on Tuesday morning, bringing the total of actual on-scene responses in the city to 20 fires since January.
Deputy Chief Rick Caddick told The Intelligencer Tuesday that Station 1 is on par with previous years’ active fire calls in the Quinte region.
Station One responded to a Highway 401 vehicle blaze on Monday afternoon that followed a fire at the city public works facility earlier Monday morning.
“We are at [overall] 360 calls right now since January. When you look at the number of calls and go back over the number of fires, it’s still a small amount,” Caddick said.
At approximately 9:45 a.m. Tuesday morning, fire crews from Station 1 were dispatched to Creelman Avenue, where a structure fire engulfed a trailer previously used for an office building.
The blaze sent a thick black and grey plume of smoke into the air.
At the time of the blaze, no power was connected to the trailer, ruling out an electrical fault from the ongoing investigation.
“That asphalt plant hasn’t run in 10 or 15 years,” said Caddick.
The area is known for homeless encampments in the nearby forest.
“What are the ignition points? There are none,” he said. “That’s the problem here.”
The deputy chief explained that structure fires like Tuesday morning are generally not started intentionally; they happen by accident.
“We have had homeless encampment fires before; they are usually unintentional. It’s just people trying to stay warm,” said Caddick.