CALEB NICKERSON
CAMPBELL’S BAY Dec. 11, 2019
Early Wednesday morning, a fire tore through a triplex in Campbell’s Bay, leaving a family and two other . . .
tenants homeless.
Fire crews were called to a structural fire, located at 5 rue Patterson at 12:28 a.m. Dec. 11. Five trucks and 17 firefighters responded from the Campbell’s Bay-Litchfield Department, with an additional truck and six firefighters dispatched from the Shawville-Clarendon Department.
CB-LFD Fire Chief Kevin Kluke said that the building was fully involved by the time they arrived, and residents had already evacuated the premises. Crews worked quickly to prevent the fire from doing damage to a neighbouring house, which was located just six feet from the burning building. Kluke said that they defended the home with ample amounts of water.
“We fought it quite aggressively to keep it at bay,” he said, adding that the cause of the blaze was deemed accidental.
The crew from Shawville left around four in the morning, Kluke said, and the Campbell’s Bay-Litchfield personnel were on scene until about 10:30 a.m., extinguishing hot spots.
Isabelle Gagnon, whose father, brother and husband jointly own the building, said that the cause of the fire was caused by an accident with a deep fryer. She noted that the six tenants were able to get out, though two had to be taken to hospital. According to the GoFundMe page set up for the family, they were both treated for carbon monoxide poisoning and one for burns. The Equity reached out to the creator of the GoFundMe, but didn’t receive a response in time for print.
Gagnon added that they had contacted the Red Cross as well as local community groups to find their tenants aid and a temporary place to stay. She said she was having a difficult time getting a hold of the victims to coordinate a response, but added that she had gone through a house fire eight years ago and could sympathize. She said that several pets perished in the fire.
The GoFundMe that has been set up for some of the victims can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/kpfe5v-devastating-house-fire?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet
