No injuries reported as house fire in Norwood closes section of Hwy. 7

No injuries have been reported following a house fire in the village of Norwood on Tuesday morning.

Asphodel-Norwood Township firefighters responded around 7:30 a.m to a house fire on Hwy. 7.  According to fire chief Daryl Payne, he was the first to arrive on scene at 7:34 a.m. and noticed the front left section and basement of the home were on fire.

“It was starting to migrate up to the second storey,” said Payne.

He said three occupants in the house made it out safely and are receiving assistance from the Peterborough County Disaster Trust Fund.

Payne said 25 firefighters responded to the large blaze utilizing a defensive attack. Payne estimated the home was over 150 years old but was “well-maintained.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, he said.

A section of the highway is closed between County Road 45 and Asphodel 7th Line. Detours are in place. Commercial motor vehicles will be using County Road 38 to County Road 2 to County Road 45 due to load restrictions, according to Peterborough County OPP.

The fire scene is just east of St. Paul Roman Catholic Church and across from St. Paul Catholic Elementary School on nearby Oak Street.

The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington District School Board says buses, students and staff were able to arrive at school safely on Tuesday morning.

Due to smoke in the vicinity, the school is currently in “shelter in place” — the safety response used when an environmental or weather-related situation keeps occupants in the school.

“Otherwise, it is business as usual,” said Galen Eagle, communications manager for the board.

“The school principal will be closely monitoring the situation, but at the moment there does not appear to be any risk to the school and fire services are at the scene across the street managing the situation.”

On Monday afternoon, the Student Transportation of Central Ontario advised some bus routes would experience delays due to the detours. Check http://stsco.ca for specific bus route delay info.

— more to come