Snow slows down firefighters
Fire marshal determines fire cause to be plugged-in tractor
It took three fire departments three hours to put out a barn fire on the Bonshaw Road, west of Charlottetown, during a snowstorm this weekend.
The North River Fire Department responded to the fire around 9:45 p.m. Saturday. When they arrived, one barn was fully engulfed in flames and a second barn had just caught on fire.
North River Chief Anson Grant said the weather made battling the blaze difficult, and there were other challenges too.
"The farm, located on the Bonshaw road there, is kind of nestled up on a hill there," said Grant.
"The lane was long and it was quite a steep incline going down and back up into the property there, but we ended up having to deploy what we call high-volume hose line from the road."
No people or animals were injured, but a tractor was lost in the fire.
One barn was destroyed, but the other has minor damage.
The Crapaud and New Glasgow fire departments were also on the scene.
The fire marshal's office has attributed the cause to a tractor stored in the barn, that was plugged into a cord running from another building.
House destroyed, cat perishes
Another fire on Saturday night left a house on Clermont Road in Indian River, P.E.I., "extensively destroyed," according to the fire marshal's office.
No one was home at the time of the fire, but the family cat died in the fire.
The New London and Kensington fire departments attended.
The fire marshal's office said the exact cause of the fire, which originated in the garage, is undetermined, due to the extent of the damage, adding it's likely a vehicle in the garage experienced an electrical fault.
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With files from Stephanie Kelly