The Maitland & District Volunteer Fire Department had a busy Monday helping to fight and contain three fires in three different communities.

The small-town Nova Scotia crew were joined by other local departments fighting a structural fire in Noel, a barn fire in Urbania and a forest fire in Indian Brook First Nation, west of Shubenacadie.

House fire

Fire Chief Wayne Miller said shortly after noon, the Maitland crew were called into action when they went to Noel to fight a significant residential fire.

According to the Noel detachment, there were no injuries and the province's fire marshall will visit the site tomorrow to investigate a cause.

Miller said he had to stay at the Noel fire, but his firefighters had to pack up and head to Urbania around 1:30 p.m.

Barn fire

On Rose Point Road, a homeowner was using his own water source as he tried to fight a barn fire.

The hay-storage barn was mostly destroyed by the time help arrived, Miller said, but the flames were threatening another storage barn. No animals or people were injured.

A cause will remain unknown, Miller explained. The hay was too old to heat up, and there was no electricity in the building, which was uninsured.

The Cobequid and Shubenacadie departments were in charge of that scene.

As an excavator toppled the building to control the fire, Maitland crews looked the south and saw smoke.

Forest fire

Miller said the volunteers then headed to Indian Brook First Nation where a forest fire was getting close to a residence.

They joined crews that were already on the scene, and focused on hot spots.

They were there for two hours into the evening, but Miller was unsure about the span of the damage. There were no injuries, he said, and no cause has been determined.