‘I’m still alive’
New Waterford man says busted water pipe saved him from fire
NEW WATERFORD — A New Waterford man says a busted water pipe saved his life.
Chris Reid, 24, was the lone tenant in an apartment in an old three-storey apart- ment building at 417 9th St. in New Waterford that was destroyed by a fire that broke out Sunday at about 3:30 a.m.
“The pipe in the bedroom woke me up,” he said.
“Water was gushing out. If that didn’t bust I would have been fast asleep.”
Reid smelled smoke, so he went outside and called 911. He then went back in for his winter coat and hat.
“In the four minutes that had gone by, you couldn’t see your hand in front of you because of the smoke.”
Reid said there were smoke detectors in his apartment and in the building. “None of them went off.” He left right away and soon knew the fire was going to be bad.
“I saw a moderate amount of flames coming from the second floor window which was busted. I knew right then and there the building was going down.”
Reid said he was the only tenant left in the four-unit building. He was given notice by the landlord and was moving out Monday.
Matt Hawley, deputy fire chief of the New Waterford Volunteer Fire Department, said the call came in before 4 a.m. He said they tried to make entry from the front.
“It had to have been burning for a while as there was a lot of debris down on the stairs. We were in so far then made a decision to go out and protect it from the outside.”
Hawley said the Scotchtown Volunteer Fire Department responded to assist and the Glace Bay department assisted with their aerial ladder. The building was cordoned off pending the investigation into the cause by the fire marshal.
Deputy fire marshal Paul Mac- Cormick was at the scene Sunday.
MacCormick said there are suspicious circumstances so the investigation has been turned over to Cape Breton Regional Police.
“There were two ground-floor apartments — one at the front and one in the rear. The fire didn’t orientate in either of those apartments,” he said.
The building was demolished Sunday afternoon.
Reid said he was given 45 minutes to go back into his apartment to salvage anything he could.
“There was almost a foot of water, everything was covered in black soot. Most of the ceiling tiles were gone and water was coming down,” he said.
“That was my entire life in that apartment — I only had 45 minutes before a bulldozer was going to bulldoze the building.” He said Sunday was a hard day. “I was damp, smelled like rotten smoke, my hands and face were filthy.”
“After talking to a few people, I realized I have to focus on the positive: although I lost most of my possessions, I’m still alive.”
He said he’s thankful to the Red Cross and Salvation Army who assisted with some essentials, including clothing vouchers.
“The Rack and Roll let me put some of my things inside their doorway, the French Club sent someone down with a car to help me move things and then a truck even showed up. I’m thankful to all of New Waterford — everyone was helping.”
The building is owned by Jean and Jerry Gardiner of Mira. Jean said it was a devastating call to get Sunday at 4:30 a.m. “I’m still in shock,” she said. “All I say is I’m thankful no one was hurt.”
She said Reid is a nice, polite young man. She said a second tenant who was in the process of moving was at the new location but still had some things in his apartment.
Jean said she doesn’t know whether they’ll rebuild until they speak to the insurance company.