It's one of the biggest fires to hit Prince Edward County in over 40 years. Last night, a massive fire swept through a marsh near the Ferwood Park area.
Fuelled by high winds, the blaze forced the evacuation of residents along county road 28 until firefighters regainedgained control.

"It was basically from one end of the marsh all the way down to the other," said Chris Tweedy, whose house backs on to the marsh.

The first 9-1-1 calls came in just before 8pm. The fire spread quickly and Prince Edward County fire called for reinforcements.

"From Prince Edward County we had four of our seven [departments] fully engaged fighting this fire, and a little later in the evening, we determined it was best to bring in some more help as our guys were tiring, so we brought in help from Quinte West and from the city of Belleville," said Robert Ruttle, the Deputy Fire Chief for Prince Edward County.

It took over 100 firefighters from the region five hours to contain the blaze, which consumed about half of the 150 acre marsh. It had residents concerned.

"I think the evacuation was kind of a wake up call, and it was pretty scary," said Tweedy.

Fire crews worked quickly to save the surrounding properties.

"There was several properties all along County Road 28 for the two to three kilometre stretch of highway that we were fighting this fire, but we had absolutely no injuries and we had no loss of buildings," said Ruttle.

A few fire crews remained on scene Friday morning to make sure the hot spots were out.

The fire inspector says the cause of the fire may never be determined because the fire was so large and spread so fast it may be impossible to determine the point of origin.

Fire crews want to remind residents to be careful, especially with cigarette butts, as conditions are still extremely dry, and it doesn't take much to start a large fire.