Family of four displaced after fire destroys Englehart home

Englehart & Area Fire Department trucks (Supplied)

Nearly two dozen volunteer firefighters rushed to the scene of a house fire off Highway 11 in Englehart on Wednesday afternoon.

The call came in at 3:22 p.m. and firefighters – who are all volunteers – arrived within about six minutes, Fire Chief Bill Laurila told CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca in a phone interview.

Two people were inside the single-family home on Browns Road when the fire broke out, but were able to escape without injuries.

That part of town is not protected by fire hydrants, so firefighters set up tankers with shuttles that would fill large holding ponds of water.

Due to a mutual aid agreement with surrounding communities, two firefighters came from Earlton with a tanker to run the water shuttle system.

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With road construction at both ends of town, the highway presented a challenge for fire crews.

The chief credits the Englehart detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police for controlling traffic at the scene.

Laurila said 21 firefighters attended the scene and had the blaze extinguished shortly before 7 p.m.

The cause is still unknown and the home is a "total loss," he said.

Crews were able to contain the fire to the home, preventing it from spreading to the nearby Englehart Motel.

The volunteer firefighters mostly work shift work, so Laurila said it was lucky that it happened when they were off and available. 

CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca spoke to Cody Loranger who said it was his immediate family who was involved.

He said his dad is in hospital recovering from second-degree burns after running into the house to save the family dogs.

"Unfortunately, the pets didn't make it, but everyone else did," Loranger said.