A side building on a Lake Country property caught fire and was destroyed, on Wednesday, April 9.
At about 11 a.m., the Lake Country Fire Department (LCFD) received multiple calls for smoke coming from a property on Deldor Road.
The smoke could be seen rising above Highway 97. Deputy Chief Brent Penner told Black Press Media the original call was for smoke in a detached garage, which he later described as more of an "outbuilding" with sliding glass doors used for storage.
"When we arrived on scene, the fire had broken these sliding glass doors," said Penner, who added the scene was upgraded to a structure fire. "Fire had come out the south side and proceeded to go through the roof, it was fully involved upon our arrival."
The fire was close to the property's main structure including a deck, as well as a cedar hedge between the house and neighbour's home. The owners tried to do what they could with a hose on their property but the flames were too strong.
"As soon as that sliding glass door breached and it got air and a flow path, it took off," said Penner. "When the fire was coming through the roof of the structure, [it was] burning the top of the cedar hedge so that was one of the main priorities."
Fire crews were quick to respond and able to knock down the blaze quickly upon arrival. Despite the initial crew being able to douse the blaze, the structure was fully destroyed, confirmed Penner.
Fire crews from Oyama and Carr's Landing also attended.
"Even though the first truck in did an amazing job with the manpower it had, there was a lot of opportunity for it to be a worse picture," added Penner. "Especially if it was windy, we could've had our hands full."
There is no cause for what sparked the fire, but it is not suspicious in nature. The LCFD knows the origin area and will continue to investigate.
There were no injuries reported in the incident, including pets.
The residents were placed in the care of emergency social services, however, Penner added the homeowners have insurance. A camper and motorcycle were also saved from the fire.
The owner of the home, Laura Murphy, took to Facebook on Wednesday night to thank the firefighters for their service and quick response.
"I want to give a huge shout-out to our local firefighters!" Murphy's post stated. "I had a garage fire this morning and their response was quick and efficient and man are those people brave!! The situation could have been so, so much worse and it wasn鈥檛 because of the quick work of the Lake Country Fire Department! I can鈥檛 thank them enough!"