An elderly man was evacuated from a burning home on Cedar Heights Road in North Bay on Sunday evening. Officials said the man wasn’t injured in the fire, but two cats were killed. “We got a fire call after 6:30 in the evening last night to a fully involved structure fire with pets inside and one resident inside,” platoon chief Tom Heppenstall of North Bay and Fire Emergency Services told CTV News on Monday. The man managed to escape with help from firefighters, but the structure was destroyed. “No cause yet, although he had just lit his fireplace/wood stove,” Heppenstall said. “Our fire prevention team just arrived on scene and they’re going to look into that.” One challenge in battling the blaze was the fact that the nearest fire hydrant was almost a kilometre away. “After some water shuttling, we were able to use a hydrant,” he said. “We had a total of 24 firefighters at the scene and cycling through to protect the city at the same time.” The fire is out and crews expect they will leave the scene by the early afternoon Monday, Heppenstall added. In a news release later Monday, Fire Chief Jason Whiteley said firefighters arrived to find “heavy smoke on the first floor and a well-established fire in the basement area of the residence.” “Fire crews entered the building to ensure that there was no one in the house,” Whiteley said. “The sole occupant was safely removed. Extra combustibles in the basement area increased the fire load and fire crews exited the building and fought the fire from a defensive position. The residence was at the end of a one-way street with slippery and low-light conditions that increased operational and safety concerns for fire crews.” The cause of the fire “will remain undetermined,” he added. “There is no dollar loss provided at this time.” He urged residents to ensure they have working smoke alarms. “A working smoke alarm gives you a chance. A chance to wake up. A chance to run. A chance to live.”
