Fire guts Parkhill Road home
Damage estimated at $80,000 in afternoon blaze
Residents of a Parkhill Road East home could only sit in the grass with their pets as flames tore through their home mid-afternoon Monday.
A tall plume of dark smoke in contrast with the bright blue sky was visible from across the city shortly before 3 p.m. as flames consumed the rear of the two-storey wood-frame building, including a large deck on the second floor.
Damage is estimated at $80,000 and the cause of the blaze remains under investigation by the fire prevention division, Platoon Chief Don Borers stated in a press release.
City police closed Parkhill between Denniston Avenue and Auburn Street beyond opposite sides of the Parkhill Road Bridge over the Otonabee River as firefighters battled the blaze at 53 Parkhill, opposite Inverlea Park.
A retired city fire captain who was already on scene when crews arrived reported that all occupants and pets were out of the structure, Borers stated.
Three uninjured occupants of the burning building sat in the grass of a vacant lot east of the home, with dogs and a cat carrier.
A Peterborough-City-County Disaster Trust Fund representative attended the scene and provided shelter, officials stated.
The fire was quickly brought under control, Borers stated. The first-arriving pumper crew knocked down the flames at the rear of the home, spraying water from the east and rear of the building. A second crew went inside and fought the blaze on the second floor.
Firefighters could be seen through second storey windows as smoke continued to pour from the roof and rear of the structure.
Crowds watched from the park across the street.
Fire investigators had left the scene by about 7 p.m.