Duane Hicks
A residence located at #165 Hill Road in Alberton Township suffered extensive damage in a fire that occurred Saturday afternoon.
The fire started in the garage, which it eventually destroyed before spreading to the adjacent house and causing serious damage.
The Alberton Fire Department, with support from the La Vallee Fire Department, responded to the blaze.
“It started in the garage, we know that part,” Alberton Fire Chief Sandy Haney said this morning.
“Then, there was a strong wind from the north,” he added.
“The house was about five feet from the garage,” Chief Haney noted. “There was a car and a truck parked right in front of the garage. The car and truck both burnt. The garage burnt. The house burnt.
“The outside walls—three of them—are still standing, but the rest is all damaged inside,” he said.
“I thought when we got there, we might be able to save it [the house] but the wind was too strong,” Chief Haney remarked.
“And with the cars and that burning, you couldn’t get close to the house.
“It caught on the north side of the attic, and just went down the roof line within seconds,” he recalled.
Had it been a calmer, Chief Haney speculated they may have been able to save the house.
“We were there in time,” he stressed. “With the mutual aid system, we called Devlin in and they assisted us, hauled water.
“We had lots of water, but we couldn’t get close enough to fight it inside. We just had to stand back and shoot water at it. . . .
“The wind was so strong, it took the flames over the top of [the] roof of the house.”
The home belonged to Dustin Faragher and Heather Jewell, who were home at the time with their children.
A neighbour alerted them that their garage was on fire.
They were able to get out of the home, and no injuries were reported.
They had insurance on the home, which they had just bought four-five months ago.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
