One man unaccounted for following fire in Caledon

CTV Barrie: Man missing after fire The search continues for a man who remains unaccounted for after a fire broke out at a home in Caledon. Heather Butts reports.

One man is still missing after a fire tore through a Caledon home on Sunday morning.

Crews were initially called to the home in the area of Mayfield Road and Gore Road, at around 6 a.m. for reports of a basement fire. However when they arrived, the home was engulfed in flames.

"Heavy smoke, heavy flames throughout the entire residence,” says Caledon deputy fire chief, Darryl Bailey. “Flames were coming out of most of the windows of the main floor and then they started blowing out on the second floor, shortly after our arrival."

Three people were home at the time, two of them made it out safely.

"Upon arrival, we were advised by one of the occupants that she was not sure where her husband was,” Bailey says. “We're going under that assumption, yes at this time that this person is still inside the residence."

Sandy Soares lives next door and heard screaming. That’s when she went outside to find her neighbour's home on fire.

"The son from next door was calling out for his dad to come out. From what I understood, the son said his dad had come out and had gone back in."

It took crews two and  a half hours to put out the blaze. Damage is so extensive, investigators with the Ontario Fire Marshal's Office says they'll need to bring in heavy equipment before anyone can go inside.

"The entire ground floor collapsed into the basement. You pretty much have just four walls and a roof just sort of standing there," says OFM investigator Mike Ross. "If we're looking for somebody, obviously you don't just bang and crash and start collapsing walls without some meticulous efforts."

The cause of the fire has still not been determined but finding the missing man is still the number one priority.