It was a Christmas morning to forget for some residents on Gildersleeve Boulevard in Bath, Ont., like Jon Mayne.
“We all woke up to the smell of smoke and feeling hot, it was almost like a summer’s day”
Firefighters say at about 4:30 a.m. Monday, they were called to the area. Crews arrived to find five separate houses on fire. All five buildings were destroyed and another eight were damaged. According to Mayne, if not for the efforts of one of his neighbours, things could have been so much worse.
“It was because of a volunteer firefighters German Shepherd that the fire department was notified so quickly.”
The five structures were still under construction, and as such, no families were displaced by the fire. And while a full estimate of the damages is yet to be released, fire chief for loyalist, Fred Stephenson, says it’s looking substantial.
“The sale value of the five houses that are destroyed was close to five million dollars.”
He also added that the cause & nature of the fire is yet to be determined.
“We have two investigators from the office of the fire marshal on scene and they’re actively digging through the debris and hopefully we’ll have a cause and origin in a few days.”
An investigation is ongoing.