Working smoke alarms are being credited with saving a family after an early morning fire ripped through a house just south of Haliburton on Tuesday.
According to Mike Iles, fire chief for the Municipality of Dysart et al, crews were called to a house fire on Wigamog Road at 4 a.m. The area is about 10 kilometres south of Haliburton.
“Upon arrival, the house was fully engulfed,” Iles said. “Firefighters contained the fire to the attic and south end of the structure.”
Iles said 17 firefighters and seven trucks from the Dysart Fire and Rescue department along with two fire trucks from Minden Hills Fire Department were at the scene.
Damage is pegged at $250,000 as Iles said the structure is a total loss. There were also two vehicles that sustained damage.
“But firefighters were able to salvage some personal items and memorabilia from the house,” he said.
Iles said working smoke alarms “saved the lives” of the family of three which included a 10-year-old girl and her grandparents. He said the girl first woke up to the smell of smoke and the smoke alarms.
“Upon the sound of the smoke alarm, the occupants safely evacuated the house,” he said. “Once again this reinforces the importance of having working smoke alarms present.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.