Gananoque’s fire chief has publicly thanked volunteer firefighters for helping to extinguish a house fire on the weekend.
Chief Steve Tiernan posted a letter to firefighters on the town’s Twitter page on May 11, thanking those who came out to battle the blaze while leaving their families on Mother’s Day.
On Sunday evening, a garage was fully engulfed in flames when fire crews arrived at 625 Steel Street at 7:30 p.m.
Fire crews worked quickly to contain the fire prevented it from spreading to the house, though the blaze charred some of the back exterior wall and caused significant smoke damage to the inside.
“Somebody had stopped by and notified them that their garage was on fire,” said Gananoque fire chief Steve Tiernan.
All occupants inside the home were able to evacuate the home safely including their pets.
“We had 27 members on scene that day from three different stations including our own and it was good to see.”
The fire chief posted a statement on the Town of Gananoque’s Twitter page thanking those who helped put out the fire, including Gananoque firefighters, the Leeds and the Thousand Islands Fire Department and the Ganonoque police.
“Your quick response and actions certainly prevented, what could have been a far worse outcome, and resulted in the rescue of the family’s pets,” said Tiernan.
A GoFundMe page has been started to assist the family who was living in the home. According to GoFundMe page they are hoping to raise up to $8,000 to cover the damages.
Tiernan says they don’t have a damage estimate at this time and that cause of the fire is still under investigation.