Crews battling a house fire in Dartmouth, N.S., were able to pull out of the home just before the roof collapsed on Thursday evening.
Firefighters were called to the home on Castleton Crescent at around 6:30 p.m.
District Chief Stephen Turner, with Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Services, said crews were met with heavy fire on the back of the house that had extended up to the attic.
“Our crews made entry to get to do a search but the fire rapidly progressed to the point where we had to get our crews out,” he said.
“In the interest of safety we pulled our crews out and the roof collapsed shortly after that.”
Turner said firefighters transitioned to a defensive tactic, and quickly knocked down the fire in the attic.
There was one resident and three pets, who were able to get out of the home before firefighters arrived. Turner said they confirmed with a homeowner and through a search that nobody else was inside.
“We went back inside, made sure nobody was in the building. We got two vehicles out for the occupants and we are now starting to release the scene and bring out hotspots as they flare up,” he said at around 8:30 p.m.
Turner said the fire was particularly difficult to attack because the residence is large and the fire had “rapidly progressed through the attic prior to arrival.” In addition to the collapsed roof, he said the home has significant fire and water damage.
Fire investigators were on scene to determine the cause.
Six firefighting units with 20 firefighters and three support units battled the blaze.
“Our crews did a good job, knocked the fire down quickly, made sure it didn’t spread to any other residences,” Turner said.