CALEB NICKERSON

Litchfield Dec. 16, 2019

A man living on Leslie Lake, along with his young puppy, narrowly escaped a fire that engulfed his . . .

cottage in the early hours of Dec. 16.

Richard Larocque estimated that it was around 7 a.m. on that fateful morning when he noticed something was wrong. During the power outages that had blanketed the region at the time, he had a gas generator keeping things running at his cottage on cheming Crawford. He had been out to re-fuel it during the middle of the night, but just hours later it had mysteriously cut out.

He went over to his back window and saw plumes of black smoke emanating from the shelter next to the house where he kept the generator. He grabbed his coat, boots and fire extinguisher and rushed out to confront the rapidly spreading flames. To his dismay, the extinguisher didn’t discharge.

“I’d checked the year before to make sure it was working, well it didn’t work that day anyways,” he said.

Larocque instinctively tried the garden hose but it was frozen. He jumped in his Bobcat loader to try and push the burning debris away from the cottage but it wouldn’t start.

With the flames rapidly spreading up the side of the building, Larocque charged back inside to fetch his young dachshund puppy Max.

“When I go back in, I just can’t get over it, there’s flames inside, the smoke is … you [couldn’t] see anything,” he said, adding that he called out for Max, who came bounding over, still small enough to fit in the air gap below the smoke.

Larocque put him in his truck, which was parked next to the house, and went back in to retrieve his cell phone.

“Your mind is only thinking about one thing at a time … [you’re] under duress,” he said, noting that he didn’t retrieve other valuables like his wallet or other personal items.

It was during this trip that Larocque said he suffered some burns to his face and smoke inhalation, but with the adrenaline pumping, it didn’t register. After placing the call to 911, he tried to retrieve the keys to his truck, as the plastic parts of the front end were beginning to warp from the heat, but they were too hot to handle.

He went for his spare magnetic key holder and managed to get the truck to a safe distance, only to sit back and watch as the home that he had slowly built up over 20 years burned to the ground. He added that when one of his propane tanks ignited, it sent a torrent of flame shooting into the sky.

Campbell’s Bay-Litchfield Fire Chief Kevin Kluke said that they responded with 15 firefighters and six trucks, including one vehicle and five men from the Shawville-Clarendon Department. He said that it took them about 25 minutes to arrive on scene spent about four hours there. For Larocque, when the emergency services arrived, the reality of what had just taken place began to sink in.

“I was kind of in shock I guess, I didn’t even realize I was burnt,” he said. “The EMS guys were saying, ‘You’ve got to come with us to the hospital.’ For what?”

Man and pup were taken to Pontiac Community Hospital in Shawville where they spent the night. Larocque said that he was grateful for the fine care he received and for the fact that they let him keep Max at his side throughout his stay.

Now staying in a log guest cabin on the same property, he said he’d recovered from the worst of the physical harm, but was still shaken by the experience. Normally a very organized man, he said his mind has been cloudy and he’s had trouble sleeping.

A contractor by trade, he built the cottage up slowly over the years, adding on and renovating at his own pace. He did not have insurance. Larocque was anxious to get the charred debris carted away as soon as possible.

“I’ve got to start working on removing the remains of that building, when I look at it I get really upset,” he said.

In light of his own misfortune, Larocque said he wanted to get the word out about the fire hazard posed by gasoline generators, which are a common tool in rural areas prone to power outages. After talking with several of his neighbours and doing some research online, Larocque found that the problem isn’t uncommon. Just last year Honda had to recall more than 7,000 units due to a defect that could cause the fuel valve to leak and spark a blaze.

Generators should be kept at a distance from the home, on level ground and with protection from the elements. Those who have them should take care not to over fill the tank and avoid fuels containing ethanol.