Fire crews rescue two people from Elora Gorge, battle hay fire in extreme heat

Firefighters from Centre Wellington Fire and Rescue (CWFR) had a busy Wednesday on July 4 as they rescued two tubers in Elora Gorge and put out a hay fire in extreme heat.

At about 3:30pm, Elora and Fergus crews responded to a report of an injured person tubing at the Elora Gorge Conservation Area. They located the man in the river in the area of High Level bridge in the park.

“Due to the location of the injured person (CWFR) had to perform a rope rescue to extricate the patient,” said Deputy Fire Chief Jonathan Karn.

The man was transported to Groves hospital in Fergus with minor injuries to his leg.

About 20 minutes after the crews were back in the station, they received another call about a tuber with a suspected hip injury in the park.

“CWFR used an inflatable rescue boat as well as rescue swimmers to locate the patient,” said Karn.

“The injured female was returned to the tube launch using the inflatable rescue boat.”

The female was brought to Groves with non-life threatening injuries.

At around 9pm, Fergus and Elora responded to a reported structure fire on Third Line West in former Pilkington Township.

“When units arrived they found a large hay wagon with approximately 300 hay bales on fire behind a barn on a farm property,” said Karn.

The wagon had been inside the barn when a neighbour saw the smoke coming from the barn door, he said.

“The neighbour was able to pull the burning hay wagon out of the barn before the fire extended to the structure,” he said.

Crews were on scene for about two hours to extinguish the blaze.

Karn said one of the most significant challenges for these calls was the extreme heat and humidity. The region experienced a long stretch of intense heat days, with temperatures above 30 Celsius.

“Technical rescue calls are labour intensive and often take several hours to complete,” said Karn. “Responding to fires during these types of heat events are equally as difficult as crews are only able to work for short periods of time before it is necessary to provide a rest and rehydration break.”

Karn said no firefighters needed medical attention for heat stress or heat stroke thanks for the Guelph Wellington Paramedic Service.