Home severely damaged in blaze

Fire started inside shed housing home’s water system

A homeowner has been displaced following a stubborn evening house fire in Hants County.

Ryan Richard, Brooklyn’s fire chief, said his department was paged out to a Beech Brook Road residence on Feb. 16 at 8:41 p.m.

“On my arrival, there was heavy fire on the alpha (front) and bravo (left) sections of the home, with extension into the roof with visible flames vented,” said Richard.

“Live arching power lines were an extreme safety hazard for firefighters until Nova Scotia Power could arrive to de-energize the power,” he said, noting they arrived in about 30 minutes.

The owner, who has insurance, was not at home at the time of the fire, Richard said. No pets were inside the home, and no injuries to firefighters were reported.

Richard said the Nova Scotia Fire Marshall’s Office was contacted and an investigation determined the fire started inside a high-density polyurethane shed that was located against the front of the home. He said the shed contained a water system and an electric heating appliance and something malfunctioned, sparking the fire.

“From the V-shaped fire pattern in front of the home, it was easy to determine the cause, origin,” Richard said.

Brooklyn firefighters were joined on scene with their auto aid and mutual aid partners from Hantsport, Windsor, Mount Uniacke, Rawdon, and Wolfville.

Richard said a portion of the large home, which he estimates was 70 feet long, by about 30 feet wide, was “extensively damaged by fire, smoke and water,” but that another section, which contained a sizeable loft, only received smoke damage and may be salvageable, depending on what the homeowner’s insurance decides to do.

Richard said the most challenging aspect of the fire call was accessing the site due to snow and ice conditions restricting the roadway.

“It was tight quarters due to the high snowbanks and narrow roadway and powerlines,” said Richard.

“We were not able to utilize our Tower 6 aerial device because of the powerlines, mostly, and the tight quarters,” he added.

That truck would have been beneficial in dealing with the section of the home where the roof had collapsed, he said.

“We had a lot of fire underneath once the roof had collapsed. It made it challenging for crews to access that,” he

said.

Richard commended the firefighters that showed up to aid Brooklyn. The call wrapped up shortly before 1 a.m.

CONTRIBUTED An 8:41 p.m. fire call to a Beech Brook Road residence Feb. 16 kept firefighters busy until the wee morning hours.

CONTRIBUTED A water system was set up in a shed adjacent to the front of a home on Beech Brook Road in Ardoise. Something malfunctioned on Feb. 16, resulting in a fire that spread inside the home.

CONTRIBUTED Firefighters from Brooklyn, Hantsport, Windsor, Mt. Uniacke, Rawdon and Wolfville responded to a house fire in Ardoise Feb. 16.