ICE LAKE—An Ice Lake business, Dad’s Sales and Service, was totally destroyed in a fire that took place early on the morning of Saturday, November 29. Luckily no one was injured, as the house of the owner of the business, Ronald Campbell, is adjacent to the business on the same property.
“We received a call about the fire at 2:40 am on Saturday morning and responded to the garage fire,” said Mike Addison, fire chief of the Gore Bay-Gordon/Barrie Island Volunteer Fire Department, in an interview with the Recorder on Sunday morning. “And as soon as we arrived on the scene of the fire we contacted the Billings Volunteer Fire Department for backup through the Mutual Fire Aid, then also requested the assistance of the Central Manitoulin Volunteer Fire Department for water support.”
“The blaze was fully involved when we arrived on the scene, and we knew there was no way to save the garage, so our objective was to save the house,” said Mr. Addison. He explained the business-building was located only about eight feet from the corner of the house. “We used a lot of water and fortunately we were able to save the house,” said Mr. Addison. “And the main thing is nobody was hurt. Ron (Campbell) and his daughter were at home when the fire started. He said the fire woke him up, as he heard popping sounds and looked up to see what was going on and could see the glow of the flames. When police officers arrived on the scene they went to his house door to make sure he was awake and to get him and his daughter out of the house. When we arrived on the scene Mr. Campbell and his daughter were safely inside a vehicle away from the fire.”
Mr. Addison said the only damage to the house was siding melting on the outside. “No, we don’t have a cause for the fire,” said Mr. Addison. “It was so bad when we got there we couldn’t even determine what part of the building the fire started in.”
“The (building) is bigger than you would think and there were several vehicles, boats and forklifts stored inside,” said Mr. Addison. “It was a huge loss fire. We did call the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office, which is normal in a high loss fire, and they chose not to send an investigator to the fire, as it is not a suspicious fire.” He noted that Mr. Campbell had insurance on the business.
The fire crews were on scene of the blaze from 2:40 am to 4:30 pm. Then, “The fire flared up again on Saturday night,” said Mr. Addison. “With it being so windy the embers flared up again and we responded and were able to put everything out again, without any damage being caused.”
