There's been yet another house fire in our area.
A fire at a home on Penetang Street this afternoon sent an 87-year-old woman to hospital. She has been released from RVH.
Thick smoke could be seen coming from the home just before noon today. Neighbours raced over to try and find the 87-year-old woman who lives here.
Joan Rawlings saw smoke coming out of the house and ran over to help her neighbour.
“She was lying in the snowbank we checked for a pulse and picked her up,” Rawlings says.
The woman was taken to hospital with minor injuries. Four fire trucks with more than 20 firefighters responded. And an investigator from the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office was on scene this evening, inside the home looking for any clues that may help determine what started the fire.
Fire Chief John Lynn says firefighters moved quickly to knock the fire down and save the home. It's still not known what caused the fire or if there were working smoke alarms inside the home, but Barrie fire investigators say they think they know where it may have started.
“The fire started in the main room on the main floor,” says David Lalonde with the fire department. “A lot of smoke damage. Structurally the house seems to be fine.”
This is the 15th fire in our area in about a month.
Among the fires include one Jan. 11, a woman and her young son were killed after the trailer they were sleeping in caught fire in Hunstville. On Jan. 23, a Meaford woman was killed after a fire ripped through her home. No cause has yet been determined in either case.
Fire investigators say there has been a troubling increase in fires this season and say the extreme cold has been a common factor. They are reminding people everywhere to take extra precautions.
