Laurentian Valley Fire Chief Tim Sutcliffe
It’s been a hectic week for members of the Laurentian Valley Fire Department.
Thursday, Jan. 25 at about 3:30 a.m., firefighters were called to a property on Henan Road for a barn on fire. Before that, on Tuesday, Jan. 23, at 2:30 a.m., crews battled a fire at an abandoned house on Pembroke Street East.
Fire Chief Tim Sutcliffe told myFM that in both cases, the structures were fully engulfed when crews arrived.
“In both cases the guys did a good job. Our response time was good but when you get a call and it’s already fully ablaze, it doesn’t matter if you’re two minutes away or 10 minutes away, you’re not going to save it.”
On Henan Road, firefighters arrived to find the barn, which was being used as a garage, ablaze.
The fire had been called in by someone driving by.
“It was basically a case of surround and drown, trying to get it out. It was long gone before we got there. The fire had taken over the building, there was no saving what was left there,” said Sutcliffe. “We rolled all of our trucks so we had three water trucks and our pumper so we were able to contain it fairly quickly.”
Firefighters were at the scene for about four-and-a-half hours.
Neither the cause of the abandoned house fire, or the barn/garage fire, is known, said Sutcliffe.
(Written by Sherry Haaima)