A Fort William First Nation home destroyed by a fire last weekend was likely the casualty of a delayed response caused by the ongoing closure of the James Street Swing Bridge.
The Little Lake Road home was engulfed in flames when responding Thunder Bay Fire Rescue firefighters arrived on Sunday to tackle the blaze.
“It’s unusual for our firefighters to arrive and find a building with as much fire as it did,” said Eric Nordlund, the fire service’s division chief of fire prevention and investigation.
Although everybody inside the house, including children, escaped uninjured, Nordlund said the response time was slowed by detours caused by the extended closure of the bridge that provided a direct link between Fort William First Nation across the Kaministiquia River to Thunder Bay.
The first arriving crews, in a pumper from the Neebing Fire Station, were on scene in about 13 minutes. The closest station – the Brown Street Fire Station – is less than six kilometres away but firefighters must travel close to double that distance to access the community via Highway 61 and City Road.
Fire officials said the intensity of the fire caused the roof of the home to collapse, and damage to the building was extensive.
“That’s simply due to response time and the distance that the trucks had to travel in order to get to the fire,” Nordlund said.
Anishinabek Police Service Sgt. Rob Pelletier said a preliminary investigation has determined the fire was not caused by foul play.
“We initially responded to the fire and learned that a candle was left burning near the back of the building,” Pelletier said.
The bridge, owned by CN Rail, has been closed to vehicular traffic since an October 2013 fire broke out on the northern approach spans. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the railway’s bid to overturn a previous Ontario Court of Appeal ruling ordering the reopening of the span.
The railway has contracted Sacchetti Construction to work on the bridge, but the timeline for reopening is not known.
“It has (had a negative effect), and it will continue to until it’s built,” Fort William First Nation chief Peter Collins said.
