Two families living on Manitoulin Crescent in southeast Kitchener are now homeless after fire spread across the roofs of their houses.
Both families were out when they heard about the blaze. One family was out on Conestoga Lake, the other was enjoying some time together on Canada Day; a teenage boy stayed behind, however.
Rob Bateman tried notifying the young man of the impending danger.
“I pounded on the door a bunch of times until the smoke got too bad that I had to run away. He came out shortly after that.”
Neighbours saw huge plumes of thick, black smoke from their backyards and came running when they heard large crackling sounds coming from the small crescent.
“It was on the fence and then in no time, even before we heard the sirens coming, it was up the roof, on the house, and you could see smoke coming out of their bedroom window”, says Bateman.
It took 25 Kitchener firefighters from four crews roughly an hour to get the blaze under control.
At this point, investigators still need to comb through the rubble to determine the exact cause.
“The wind played a factor in extending to the second house. Overall, once crews got on scene, we were able to use larger streams and knock down the body of the fire quickly”, says Assistant Platoon Chief Andy O’Reilly.
Neighbours believe the fire started on the fence.
Kitchener fire crews were joined by Waterloo Regional Police officers on the scene. Detectives were also present because one of the families had their van stolen eight days ago. It is now a joint investigation, says O’Reilly.
“Both entities are involved from the start so it can proceed whichever way it needs to be.”
