Family homeless after townhouse fire

A fire caused significant damage to a townhouse on St. Margarets Bay Road in Halifax on Thursday morning.

Crews were called to the scene at 8:25 a.m. said District Chief Stephen Turner of Halifax Fire and Emergency in a phone interview at noon.

Eleven people were registered as living in the house, according to the landlord, Turner said, although it’s not known how many people were there at the time.

The occupants escaped the house before fire crews arrived and there were no injuries.

There was extensive fire damage in the upper level of the house and water damage in the lower part of the house.

“It’s definitely not livable at this time,” Turner said. “We have investigators on the scene at this time trying to determine the cause and the determination of how it started.”

Traffic in the 600 block of the road, between Quarry Road and the lights at Albert Walker Drive, was redirected by Halifax Regional Police for a couple of hours.

According to a Gofundme fundraiser organizer, a family of seven who lived in the house lost all their possessions.

"Will Fraser and Jen Oakley were able to get their family out safe but they were not able to get anything else," said Carla Munroe in a message on the Gofundme site. "Not even shoes on their feet. No presents from Santa – NOTHING. Unfortunately there was no home insurance."

The couple have four daughters and a son aged 10 to 17, Munroe said.

"They will have a roof over their head tomorrow but were not able to get anything from the home and have been left with nothing. They will need funds to help get them back on their feet."