South Simcoe officer runs into blazing barn to extinguish fire

Bodycam footage from Cst. Colin Niewel of the South Simcoe Police shows him extinguishing a barn fire in Innisfil of May 6, 2026.

South Simcoe Police said Constable Colin Niewels extinguished a fire in a barn in Innisfil, that is home to 45 sheep and 16 cattle.

Police say the call for a fire in the area of Innisfil Beach Road came in around 11:10 P.M. on Wednesday night.

Niewels was the first on scene, arriving within minutes and observing a large amount of smoking billowing out from the barn on the property.

The constable equipped himself with a fire extinguisher from his cruiser, police say, Niewels then entered the burning barn and put out the flame at its source before it could spread.

Innisfil Fire arrived at the scene later and helped extinguish remaining flames and clear the barn of smoke. Nieghbouring farmers helped evacuate some of the animals as well.

Police say the barn remained intact, no injuries were reported, no livestock was lost.

No foul play is suspect at this time and the fire is not deemed suspicious by authorities.

Connor Courts, who runs the farm calls it a “freak event.”

Courts tells CTV News he was away from the farm and asked his fiancée to check cameras on the property and she reported back to him that it was “foggy” outside.

Courts says it was not a foggy night and upon reviewing other camera, he caught a red glow of what he believes was a fire caused by the spontaneous combustion of manure composting in the barn.

Courts says he “called five different neighbours from the road and asked for their help and they also showed up immediately to help,” adding he cannot say enough about the friends that live around him.