DIXONS CORNERS – A person driving by is credited with saving a family after fire tore through their home just before midnight Tuesday morning.
Emergency responders were called to the single-storey house at 10543 County Road 18, also known as Cook Road, west of Dixons Corners. The home is about 11 kilometers north of Iroquois.
South Dundas Fire Chief Cameron Morehouse told Newswatch “the occupants were alerted by someone driving by the home that the (attached) garage was on fire” around 11:29 p.m. Monday night.
“There was a husband and wife there. The people were banging on the door. They were just able to grab what they had on and the dog and they did get one vehicle out of a carport that eventually collapsed,” Morehouse said.
“They’re pretty lucky that somebody did wake them up.” He says the house did have working smoke alarms.
Morehouse says by the time the first firefighters from the Iroquois station arrived on scene at 11:48 p.m., the garage had already collapsed and the flames had spread into the 55-year-old home.
Firefighters from the Iroquois and Williamsburg stations (Williamsburg provided water support) fought the fire for several hours overnight. The department finished up around 4 a.m.
The cause is undetermined and is under investigation by Morehouse and another staff member.
“It was pretty rapid fire. It started in the garage where people store a lot of flammable liquids. There was a car in there so that added to the fuel load. It was very fast moving,” he said.
Morehouse says they have sent pictures to the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office but it’s not likely they will come to the scene because it doesn’t meet the criteria for an OFM investigation.
The house was insured.