A volunteer firefighter in North Kawartha Township says he was shocked to discover a fire call on Wednesday night was for his own house.
“I got the page and I was the first one here but there wasn’t anything I could do,” Jeremy Borthwick told CHEX News. “It was fully engulfed in flames.”
Firefighters were called around 10:30 p.m. to the blaze on County Road 504 just east of the village of Apsley.
Borthwick said he was overwhelmed with shock to assist his fellow volunteer firefighters. The blaze claimed his 13-year-old dog along with two cats. With the exception of one wall, the house was destroyed and a pickup truck was also heavily damaged.
“I stepped away and let everybody else deal with it,” said Borthwick. “I just didn’t want to do deal with. I was just trying to believe with what is going on.”
Since 2004, he had lived in the house which he says was built by his grandparents in the early 1930s. His 18-year-old son also lives there part-time but was in Apsley at the time when the fire broke out.
“I still don’t believe it — I think I’m still in shock,” Borthwick said Thursday afternoon. “I just couldn’t believe it. I’m glad nobody was home.”
Borthwick’s cousin R.J. Hensley says he woke up Thursday morning with “tonnes” of text messages and phone calls about the fire which claimed the family house.
“I woke up and it was horrific — the house was in the family for generations,” Hensley said. “I remember coming here as a kid. My mother was raised in this house. It’s very sad.”
Community support is already pouring in and a GoFundMe page has been launched to help Borthwick.
“I’m really thankful for the support already,” he said.
A damage estimate has yet to be determined.
Fire officials do not consider the fire suspicious but an exact cause remains under investigation but Borthwick says it may be electrical in nature.