‘I’m devastated:’ Fire destroys Manotick home and business

Two people have lost their home after a fire tore through a structure in Manotick on Sunday. CTV’s Natalie van Rooy reports.

A resident of Manotick says she’s devastated after a fire tore through her home on Sunday morning.

According to Nick DeFazio, public information officer with Ottawa Fire Services, crews responded to multiple 911 calls reporting smoke and flames in a building on Manotick Main Street near Eastman Avenue shortly before 8 a.m.

The property includes a residence on the top floor and a business on the main floor.

Eva Racine, the resident of the building, told CTV News Ottawa that she stepped out of the house to drive her son to work before returning home to see the smoke and flames.

“I came right back and I saw the fire trucks and I walked up. I saw the owner of the car wash driving by and I asked… he said it was my place basically,” she said.

She says she’s lived in the apartment for 12 years and runs an at-home sewing business.

“I’m devastated. They said it started in the kitchen, and I can’t think of what would have started in the kitchen,” she said.

She says most of her belonging are likely gone and has lost her cat in the fire. Her service dog Merlin was with her when she left the house and is safe.

DeFazio says fire crews had set up an aerial ladder to attack the fire from above, while others worked to suppress the fire from inside the structure.

Paramedics say there were no injuries.

The fire was declared under control shortly after 11 a.m.

The building is older with several renovations, and DeFazio said buildings of that nature typically take a longer time to clear.

Police closed Manotick Main Street for several hours to fight the fire but it has since reopened.

Racine says the Red Cross has offered to help her with temporary shelter.

“I’ve lived here for a long time in that apartment. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to find another place,” she said.

“I don’t even know if anything in that apartment is salvageable”

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Natalie van Rooy

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