Nestorville family home destroyed by fire

A family in the small community of Nestorville, near Thessalon, lost its home on Friday evening.

Huron Shores Fire Services units one and two from Iron Bridge and Little Rapids responded to the call for assistance that came in at 19:40 on Friday evening, says Huron Shores Fire Chief Jim Kent.

"When we arrived on scene the dwelling was pretty much fully engulfed in flames," he said.

The building was a balloon-frame construction house built in the early 1900s and burned very quickly.

Kent said the 20 volunteers who came out to fight the fire applied water and were able to save the outbuildings but strong winds made it a difficult task. 

"I really appreciated the assistance of the Ontario Provincial Police," he said. "Because there are no hydrants in that area we used our port-a-pool to feed the pumper truck. It took up one lane of the highway." 

Ontario Provincial Police officers reduced traffic through the area of the fire to one lane and ensured the safety of firefighters on the scene.

Two adults and two children lived in the home and were not injured, said Kent. 

The cause of the fire is not known at this time.

He also took the opportunity to remind home owners to make sure they have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in their homes.

"As we saw here," he said. "Once enough of the flammable materials found in a home are ignited and trigger an alarm, residents could have only moments to get out. People seem to think that they have time to go get this and that in the house once an alarm goes off but they really only have time to make sure everyone is accounted for and gets out."