A residence at 945 McKenzie Ave. here was destroyed by fire around 1:30 a.m. on Monday, the Fort Frances Fire Department reported.
“The small house was fully involved on our arrival,” said Fire Chief Steve Richardson. “But our firefighters were able to knock it back pretty quickly.”
He noted two people were in the house at the time of the fire but were able to escape without injury.
Chief Richardson said the cause of the fire has been listed as “careless smoking,” also adding that the smoke detector in the home was not working.
He said charges of not having a properly-working smoke detector are pending, and that cases of preventable residential fires have been treated with increasing seriousness in Ontario courts.
“Smoke detectors save lives. It was fortunate they were able to get out of there alive,” Chief Richardson stressed.
Damage was estimated at $60,000. No adjoining properties were damaged.
