Nobody was inside when a house in east Kitchener caught fire Tuesday morning, but a neighbour saw the flames and called 911.
The fire broke out around 8:30 a.m. at the home on Manor Drive, near King Street East and River Road.
A neighbour who was gardening in his yard at the time heard a loud pop.
“When I heard the pop, all of a sudden flames were coming out of the window. I ran in and called 911,” says Kim Gowing.
Firefighters responded and were able to extinguish the fire around 9 a.m.
“They found smoke and flame visible from the second floor of the family home,” says Kitchener Fire investigator Tom Ruggle.
A woman who lives in the home was out in her front yard when the fire started, but nobody was inside at the time.
Investigators determined that the fire was electrical and started in an upstairs bedroom.
“Like in many homes, there was two appliances plugged into a receptacle and the bed was pushed up against the receptacle,” says Ruggle.
“It’s not a great thing, because over time those wires get pressured and wear out.”
The second floor of the house suffered extensive damage, estimated at $200,000.
