Fire guts bedroom on Wellington Street
Jason Polmanter lost everything in a house fire Thursday night that started in his upstairs bedroom.
“At least I’m alive. That’s all that matters,” he said as he watched — with a crowd gathered on the street — firefighters searching the old two-storey row house for any embers that could spread next door.
Polmanter and three other men rent the house, at 55 Wellington St. N. Three of the renters were home when the fire broke out just before 7:49 p.m., when 911 was called.
Polmanter, his roommate Mike Malott, and a third renter were inside the house when firefighters arrived, according to Fire Dept. spokesperson Claudio Mostacci.
The three men walked out on their own accord — Malott said he had gone back in to get his three Jack Russell dogs Maggie, Abby and Sarge. The dogs were safely in his vehicle, away from the fire.
Malott said he was in the kitchen on the ground floor washing dishes when Polmanter went up to his room and discovered the fire. He and Polmanter took buckets of water from the kitchen to the room to try to put it out, but also called 911, Malott said.
“We were trying to fight it until they (firefighters) got here,” he said.
Mostacci said firefighters arrived to heavy fire and smoke on the second floor and began a search.
“They found three occupants. They were assessed by paramedics,” he said. “The bulk of the damage is in the second floor bedroom.”
The cause, and dollar damage, have not yet been determined.