Three homes in Kitchener’s north end were damaged by fire early Friday morning.
Firefighters were first called to the corner of Breithaupt and Waterloo streets shortly before 3 a.m., for a report of a garage on fire with a vehicle inside.
Arriving on Breithaupt, they found what Kitchener Fire Department platoon chief Kevin Carley termed a “large fire” at the back of the house.
The flames were quickly spreading to the main part of the house, as well as an adjacent home fronting onto Waterloo Street.
Before the flames could be extinguished, a third house was also damaged.
“Right now, we’re looking at about $450,000 in damage,” Carley said Friday morning.
Everybody inside the affected houses was able to escape under their own power.
One person was examined by paramedics for possible smoke inhalation.
A firefighter was also injured when a “flashover” occurred as crews were leaving one of the houses. That firefighter was taken to hospital for observation.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
Several roads and intersections in the area were closed for part of the morning.
