KAGAWONG—A Kagawong residence was destroyed in a fire that took place this past Monday evening.
Merv Gilchrist, fire chief of the Billings Township volunteer fire department, told the Recorder on Tuesday morning that the fire took place at the residence-cottage owned by Jody Kennedy and her family located just off Arda Road (across from the Billings landfill) near Highway 540.
“We received the call at about 6:40 pm and were on the scene of the fire at 6:55 pm,” Mr. Gilchrist told the Recorder. Along with members of the Billings Fire Department the Gore Bay/Gordon Volunteer Fire Department were called in to assist and providing water.
“Jona, Jody’s oldest son, had been in the home by himself with the rest of the family being away at the time of the fire,” said Mr. Gilchrist. “He had turned a portable heater on in the house and had gone to take a bath and when he came back into the room the fire was already going,” explained Mr. Gilchrist.
“Luckily Jona got out, as the house was basically a total loss due to the fire,” said Mr. Gilchrist. “He called his parents who contacted us.”
“There was a smoke alarm in the house, but it wasn’t working,” said Mr. Gilchrist. Provincial regulations call for a properly working fire alarm to be located on each level of a residence/building and carbon monoxide detectors are also required in every home-residence in Ontario, as of October 15, 2015.
“It was a wood building and went up really fast in the fire, it was already through the roof on the porch when we arrived on the scene,” said Mr. Gilchrist. There are a couple of other smaller cottages in the area of the fire, but firefighters were able to keep the blaze from spreading to those buildings, or the bush area, he pointed out.
Firefighters were on the scene of the blaze until approximately 12:30 am, said Mr. Gilchrist.
The homeowners “didn’t have any insurance on the home,” said Mr. Gilchrist.
An account in Jody Kennedy’s name has been opened at the Bank of Montreal branch in Mindemoya for those people who would like to assist the family financially.
