Late in the evening on Sunday, May 6, a fire broke out on the second floor of a Bluewater home.The firehall pager went off at 23:48 after multiple calls came in to 911 from surrounding neighbours. It only took the men six minutes to get out of bed, dressed in their gear and on the truck, reports deputy fire chief Bob Clark.
Approximately 15 minutes after the initial call, 20 volunteer firemen were on the scene, with the fire well underway. The response time was fast considering the fire was so far away from the fire hall.
Fortunately, the home-owner had recently checked and changed the batteries in his fire alarm which had alerted him to the situation at hand. This conscientious act may have saved his life.He just had enough time to scoop up his cat and escape the flames as they continued to engulf his house. Thankfully, his wife was out of town and no one was harmed in the fire.
The steep terrain of the driveway made fighting this fire challenging.The truck was left on the main road and the men had four attack lines snaking 400 feet up to the house. Luckily the winds were calm that evening and the fire stayed contained to just one house.
"If this had happened during the dry months of summer with the usual water restrictions within this area, the outcome might have been worse.Getting the new tanker truck for situations like this will be paramount," says Clark.
The firemen remained on scene, fighting the blaze for 14 hours and they finally left at 2:30 p.m. the following day. "Most of these volunteers have day jobs and I commend their dedication to fighting fires. Its lots of really hard work and the guys did a great job." says Clark. The cause of the fire is currently undetermined and what's left of the house is too unstable for investigation at this time. The one message Clark wants to get out to our community is "smoke alarms save lives", please check yours today. The owners of the Bluewater home would like to thank the community for the outpouring of support and help in the aftermath of the tragedy.
