December 30, 2009
ARNPRIOR - A 160-year-old stone farmhouse east of Burnstown was gutted by a fire a day before Christmas.
McNab-Braeside fire chief Robert Dodge said his department was called to 1305 Burnstown Rd. about 10:30 p.m. Dec. 23.
Firefighters stayed on the scene all night, leaving about 10:30 a.m. Christmas Eve to ensure the stubborn fire was extinguished. The wood inside the house was very dry, so the fire rushed up the walls and was hard to get at, explained Dodge.
“It was extremely hard to put out when it had advanced that far,” he said.
Dodge noted one of the first firefighters on the scene saw a red glow in the sky as he set out from the White Lake firehall.
The fire began in the house and moved to destroy a shed behind. However, a nearby garage and barn were spared from the flames.
Four people were at home when the fire broke out, but they got out safely. They have since found alternate lodgings.
Dodge said that fire and insurance investigators were on scene Monday trying to pin down the cause of the fire. The damage estimate is upwards of $650,000, he said.
Firefighters from all three McNab-Braeside stations attended the blaze. Under the mutual aid agreement, firefighters from Arnprior and Greater Madawaska (Calabogie) attended to provide extra manpower.
An ambulance stood by as a precaution, but no firefighters were injured in the fire. The OPP attended for traffic control and Hydro One came out to cut power to the site.
A Renfrew County crew sanded Burnstown Road and blocked off one lane to allow the tankers to go back and forth freely.
Dodge said the department used the Burnstown Beach dry hydrant for water for the first time. The hydrant, which was installed in October, “worked very well,” he said.
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