ST. NICHOLAS, P.E.I. - A pet bird died in a St. Nicholas house fire Thursday night.
The homeowners were away visiting friends at the time of the fire, so no people were injured. The house, located on Union Corner Road, was completely destroyed.
Miscouche Fire Chief Jason Woodbury said someone saw the fire and called 911 around 10:30 p.m. The home is along a dirt road that is predominantly occupied by seasonal residents, so by the time someone saw the blaze, the structure was already engulfed in flames.
Woodbury said because there are no nearby neighbours, and the 911 caller could not be located, his firefighters were under the impression that there were people in the burning house for more than an hour as they worked.
The RCMP was eventually able to track down the homeowners and confirm they were not at home, which was a great relief to everyone on the scene, said Woodbury.
“The building and the contents can always be replaced, (people can’t).”
Woodbury added that fighting the fire itself was a long and difficult process, mostly because the home had a new steel roof.
“It’s just so hard to extinguish the fires because the steel just keeps the heat in and they don’t get any place to vent. So, in order to extinguish it completely, we had to actually get an excavator to take the steel roof off, to actually get in,” he said.
Firefighters left the scene shortly after 7 a.m. Friday.
The Provincial Fire Marshall’s office is investigating. The fire’s cause has not been determined yet.
Assistance on this scene was provided by the Wellington Volunteer Fire Department and Island EMS.
