Staff
The sight of fire trucks rushing around town was a little more frequent than usual in recent days as the Fort Frances Fire and Rescue Service responded to five calls over the weekend.
The most recent was at a commercial property on the 300 block of Church Street (Gillons’ Insurance) around 8:30 p.m. last night.
Fort Frances Fire Chief Gerry Armstrong said a fan motor in the rooftop air conditioner had burned out, resulting in smoke in the building.
Fortunately, the smoke damage was minimal.
Meanwhile, at 6:05 a.m. yesterday, firefighters were called to a report of heavy smoke coming from a residence on the 400 block of Church Street.
Upon arrival, firefighters immediately traced the smoke to a sofa in the basement, which had caught fire for reasons as yet unconfirmed.
One of the building’s tenants was taken to hospital suffering from minor smoke inhalation.
The building suffered significant smoke damage.
During this call, a second fire crew was called out to a residence on the 1100 block of Second Street East, which Chief Armstrong said ended up being a false alarm.
At 5:05 a.m. yesterday, firefighters were called to an apartment building at 923 Sixth St. E.
An alarm had activated at Rose Manor after smoke was detected in a few of the rooms in the building.
The smoke was due to a burned blower fan in the building’s central air conditioning system.
Finally, at 10:10 a.m. on Saturday, firefighters were called to a residence on the 900 block of Kaitlyn Avenue, where a kitchen fire was reported.
Chief Armstrong said the fire, which started on the stove, was put out by the residents with a portable fire extinguisher prior to the firefighters’ arrival.
There was some minor fire damage to the kitchen, as well as some smoke damage throughout the kitchen and part of the rest of the home.
No injuries were reported.
