Fire ravaged a Braeside bungalow Thursday prompting a two-alarm response from city firefighters.
Crews responded a little after 9:30 p.m. to 12 Balmoral Dr. after neighbours spotted smoke streaming from the basement windows.
“I could see that there was smoke coming out of the house,” said Richard LeBlanc, who lives next door. “The smoke was just pouring out of it.”
Leblanc praised firefighters for their swift response, noting they were on scene within minutes, and his house, metres away, was left completely unscathed.
Crews got the fire out relatively quickly, but were on scene well into Friday morning, putting out hot spots and cleaning up. The home’s windows were smashed, the interior was blackened and the smell of smoke was still in the air on Friday morning.
Fire investigator Les Mroz was looking through the debris along with the RCMP’s fire investigator on Friday morning.
The home was a complete loss but thankfully no one was hurt, he said.
“There is extensive damage on the inside and to the roof as well,” he said. “There are no injuries and no fatalities.”
Mroz thanked those who called in to report the fire, noting it helped crews get to the scene quickly.
“That timely reporting is always important, even in this day and age when everyone has a cellphone. Sometimes you get multiple calls on the same incident and sometimes people assume somebody [else] must have called,” he said.
A cause for the blaze was still being determined as of Friday afternoon. The fire attracted residents from the neighbourhood. Mroz said if anyone has video or picture of the fire it would be helpful.
“From an investigation standpoint that is always good to have.”
Fire chief Ray Richards said late Friday that the estimated damage was at least $350,000, not including the home’s contents. He said investigators hope to determine a cause sometime next week.
