RCMP say a 53-year-old man has died in a Thursday house fire in southwestern Nova Scotia.
Police say the fire occurred on East Old Post Rd. in Smith’s Cove, N.S., and was reported at 2:20 p.m.
When emergency crews arrived, the home was “engulfed in flames,” RCMP said.
Police found a 67-year-old woman who managed to escape the fire and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Later in the evening, RCMP said a 53-year-old man from the community was found inside the home and was pronounced dead. The victims have not been identified.
Smith’s Cove Fire Department was the first to respond to the fire.
Department chief Josh Snyder said the large, farmhouse-style home was located on a hill. When he arrived to the scene, the fire was “fully involved” with the structure, he said.
After the first call came in just after 2:20 p.m., Snyder said it took about seven minutes to get to the scene. It then took nearly eight hours to put out the fire.
He said with the size of the home, it was a challenge to find crew members who were “BA-capable” and could carry a self-contained breathing apparatus.
“As the departments showed up… I said, ‘I need BA-capable people.'”
Snyder said there were seven or eight fire departments on scene assisting with the fire, with 15 trucks and up to 50 firefighters.
Around 10 p.m., fire crews handed off the scene to RCMP, but it didn’t end there.
“Shortly after we left, RCMP requested us back to the structure. It started to flare back up,” Snyder said.
Fire crews were called back around 11:30 p.m. and finally put the fire out at 2:30 a.m. Friday.
“The home will be excavated,” Snyder said, adding its no longer livable.
The RCMP said Friday it is still investigating the cause of the fire.
“Our thoughts are with the family of the victim at this difficult time,” a release read.