Fire destroys house

A Rosslyn Road man is lucky to be alive after fire engulfed his home Monday night.

Oliver-Paipoonge Fire Chief Mike Horan said the house is a total loss, after crews spent more than two hours battling the blaze.

“We got the call a little bit after 10 o’clock tonight of a house on fire,” Horan said. “On arrival it was fully engulfed there was one male here who was working on the fire himself. There were no injuries. The gentleman man that was here was not injured. He was checked out by the paramedics.”

Horan said there was little firefighters could do to save the home.

“Right now we’re getting it knocked down. We did a defensive attack on it. We protected the garage area, so that’s not burnt, but the rest of the house will probably be a total loss.”

A neighbour, who did not want to be interviewed, said once alerted to the fire by a neighbour across the street, she banged on the windows until the resident inside the home woke up, allowing him to flee the burning building.

Thunder Bay Police were on scene and had one man in custody, though they did not say whether or not charges would be laid.

Horan said police would remain at the property throughout the night and that the office of the fire marshal was being called in to investigate.