Family of 6 homeless after Orleans blaze

A family of six is homeless after a fire destroyed the Orleans home they just moved into Sunday afternoon.

The blaze at 1210 Orleans Blvd. broke out just before 12 p.m. and is believed to have started in the kitchen.

Four teenaged children and their parents had moved into the unit in a row home complex on Saturday, and brought furniture in on Sunday.

"When crews arrived they confirmed they had a fully involved kitchen fire and had already started to come out the front window and extend to the second floor," said Ottawa Fire spokesman Marc Messier.

"We managed to get it under control quite quickly."

Messier said there is extensive fire damage to the main floor and the upper level of the home, as well as extensive smoke damage throughout the unit.

Next door neighbour Raymond Girard called 9-1-1.

"He opened the door and all the smoke came out and then we went to call 9-1-1 and say hey hurry up,” said Girard.

"We haven't been back in the house now but I don't think there's any fire damage in our house."

Neighbours said the unit was renovated before the family moved in.

"Smoke was coming out and the firemen were already gone in the house, I was more worried about people on each side to see what was happening and where they were," said neighbour Michel Seguin.

Although Sunday was not extremely cold, Messier said winter brings added challenges to fighting fires.

"Probably the biggest challenge is just dealing with ice. It renders our scene very hazardous due to slipping hazards and all our tools," Messier said.

"Lines start to freeze up so we have to keep water flowing which just makes things even worse by putting more water on the ground."

Total damage is estimated at $250,000. No one was injured.

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Katie Griffin