Seven people escaped a devastating house fire unharmed early on Tuesday morning in Wasaga Beach.
Flames erupted from a garage on Ramblewood Drive, around 2:22 a.m., before quickly spreading to a house.
Lisa Willard was asleep inside with her husband, three kids, her mother and a child’s friend who was sleeping over. Everyone got out safely, but some of the family pets did not make it out.
“I can't explain it, I just can't explain it,” says Willard. “It's pretty devastating to lose everything like that.”
The house is a total loss; fire officials have concluded the fire caused an estimated $350,000 in damages.
The home was equipped with working hard-wired smoke alarms, but officials say the fire knocked out fire to the home.
“We feel that the fire consumed the panel and shut the power down to the building,” says Deputy fire chief Wes Higgins.
Investigators say all homeowners with hard-wired smoke alarms need to make sure they have battery backups in place. They also want people to install smoke alarms in the garage.
The Willards say they have home insurance and have been temporarily set up at a local hotel. As for the house, it will have to be torn down and the family says they hope to rebuild right back where they have lived for the past 11 years.
Fire investigators are still searching for a cause.
