A South Gillies family was left homeless on Wednesday after a fire completely gutted their two-storey home.
Firefighters were called to the Highway 595 home just before noon, arriving to find the cedar-sided, aluminum roof structure fully engulfed in flames.
Gillies Fire Department chief Scott Hole said by the time they arrived on scene there was little they could do to save the home.
“The house is old construction, it’s been renovated quite a bit and there’s a lot of old construction that’s burning pretty good,” he said, joined by crews from both O’Connor Township and Neebing battling the blaze, a task made more difficult in a rural setting without fire hydrants supplying a steady stream of water.
“It’s also seeded in the roof and we’re having trouble accessing the attic at this point.”
Luckily the house was empty at the time the fire broke out, though the passerby who phoned in the fire did manage to rescue the family pets.
“There were animals in the house and the passerby was able to get them out,” Hole said.
The chief said the front half of the house was fully involved and suffered significant smoke and water damage.
The homeowner, who did not want to give her name, could only stand by and watch as the house she’s lived in for more than 20 years burned.
“I have three kids who are going to come home to a burned out pit,” she told a Thunder Bay Television reporter off camera.
No cause for the fire has yet to be determined, Hole added.
