On Wednesday afternoon, shortly after 3PM, Berwick Firefighters were dispatched to a house on fire in the community of Windermere.
Motorists who were driving by noticed the fire and immediately called 911.
Automatic mutual aid assistance was called in from both Aylesford and Waterville fire departments to the scene.
“Upon my arrival, there was heavy turbulent smoke coming from the ridge of the structure and the eaves, with heavy fire from the front of the home,” Berwick Fire Chief, Luke Redden shared.
Chief Redden arrived just minutes after Berwick Deputy Chief Cousins and their first arriving apparatus.
Firefighters worked quickly to attack the fire from the outside, knocking the bulk of the fire down. Additional crews made entry fighting fire in the attic space between the metal roof and the ceiling.
The fire also spread 20 feet into the nearby woods, which was eventually contained.
“We had two different serious fires happening at once, it could have been a lot worse if we didn’t get water on it quick,” Redden shared.
Thankfully, no one was home at the time of the fire and there were no reported injuries as a result.
Additional mutual aid assistance was also called in with crews and tankers from Kingston and Kentville Fire.
Crews faced challenging conditions, with heavy fire being trapped by a metal roofed home.
“It makes it hard to fight a fire of that nature. It traps an enormous amount of heat and in order for that heat to ventilate, it needs a place to go,” stated Redden.
Melted siding coming from all gable ends of the home flowing a lot of heat up through to the attic.
Redden shared his appreciation for fast work by volunteers and mutual aid partners on the initial attack and during overhaul efforts.
The structure suffered significant damage, but was insured. The fire is currently being investigated by the Nova Scotia Fire Marshals Office, who attended yesterday The results of the investigation are pending, but are not deemed to be suspicious.
Nova Scotia Power also attended the scene unconfirmed if EHS and RCMP attended.
Adrian J.
