Ordinary people in our communities also serve as volunteer firefighters. They don’t hesitate to respond to a call, even when they’re woken in the middle of the night.
Early Monday morning, at approximately 0355AM, New Minas Volunteer Firefighters were dispatched to a report of a house on fire in Canaan.
Automatic mutual aid was also dispatched from Kentville & Greenwich Fire Departments to the scene.
“We were faced with heavy fire on our arrival.” Stated New Minas Fire Chief, Jim Redmond.
When crews got on scene, they experienced downed power lines and full involvement of fire from the exterior of a large residential home. These conditions along with high winds, resulted in heavy smoke filling the air, causing reduced visibility on the fire grounds.
Five occupants were home and asleep at the time of the fire. Redmond confirmed they were alerted by their working smoke detectors, which prompted them to evacuate the home safely, without injury.
Firefighters experienced challenging fire conditions. Making numerous interior efforts to extinguish heavy fire within the residence.
The home was built of balloon frame construction, which eliminates horizontal fire breaks, running open space from the bottom to the top of the structure. When a fire breaks out it burns quickly up through the walls and into the attic space, resulting in firefighters chasing the fire throughout the residence.
The historic home was built in the late 1800s and was reported to be over 140 years old, historically being one of the first homes built in the Canaan area back in the day.
Additional fire crews and tankers were further requested bringing in resources from Waterville, Berwick, Port Williams, Canning, Wolfville & Hantsport Fire Departments.
Hantsport & Windsor Fire also provided standby coverage for fire districts during the incident.
Chief Jim Redmond, confirmed the Nova Scotia Office of the Fire Marshal is investigating. Representatives were on site Tuesday and Wednesday working to determine the cause of the fire.
Kings District RCMP, Nova Scotia Power & EHS Paramedics all attended the scene. It was confirmed that there were no reported injuries as a result.
We are extremely thankful that all occupants were able to escape safely.
Thank you to all our volunteer firefighters who always answer the call no matter the hour. Your hard work and dedication to our communities is truly inspiring.
Adrian J.
