Blaze tears through Cambridge Street home
Posted By JASON BAIN, LINDSAY POST MANAGING EDITOR
Posted 3 months ago
Electrical wiring is the suspected cause of a $105,000 blaze that badly damaged a Cambridge Street home Thursday night.
A passerby reported the fire when they noticed smoke hanging in the air around Cambridge and Durham streets about 10:30 p. m.
Firefighters arrived to find a fire in a bedroom that had started on top of a dresser and spread into the walls and floor, Kawartha Lakes Fire Rescue Service assistant chief Ron Raymer said.
Crews put out the flames and focused on pulling a section on the north side of the building apart to extinguish the smouldering materials.
They used an axe to open the wall up from the outside. Nobody was home at the time of the fire, which was brought under control by about 11:30 p. m.
Electrical wiring is believed to be the cause because there were no other ignition sources, Raymer said.
Octopus wiring to an electrical outlet in the bedroom was a possible cause."
The only thing there was the wiring," he said.
Damage was estimated at $75,000 to the building and $30,000 to its contents. Much of that was heat and smoke damage upstairs and water damage in the finished basement.
Both the tenant who lived upstairs and the owner of the home, who lived in the basement, were insured, Raymer said.
Firefighters from halls in Lindsay, Ops and Oakwood put out the blaze, which closed Cambridge Street for a couple of hours.
jbain@thepost.ca
