FERGUS: Centre Wellington Fire Rescue (CWFR) responded to a residential fire in Fergus during the early hours of this Tuesday.
On Aug. 11, at around 2:30 a.m., CWFR received a call for a residential fire at a home on St. David Street South; CWFR deputy fire chief, Jonathan Karn, said around 30 firefighters from the Fergus and Elora stations arrived on-scene.
The firefighters were able to contain the fire in the attic and on the roof, however, Karn said there was some “very significant” water damage on the first and second floors of the home.
CWFR also had to work around some unique challenges because the home is a 19th century design.
Karn said fire crews had to switch up their strategy by extinguishing the fire from outside the home with the support of their aerial unit.
The construction also proved to be difficult by containing the smoke in the attic which meant the functional smoke alarms did not go off.
Current regulations do not require smoke alarms in an attic unless it is a living space.
Karn said the homeowners did not violate any regulations and their attic was not easily accessible nor used for storage or habitation.
Karn said the occupants were woken up by a sudden power outage, leading fire crews to believe it was an electrical fire, but due to extensive damage an exact cause cannot be determined.
He said despite the damage, and a repair bill likely tallying anywhere from $500,000 to around $1 million, the homeowners were quite pleased to hear the house would not have to be torn down.
CWFR, paramedics, OPP and Victim Services cleared the scene by 9 a.m. that morning.
