SIX NATIONS – A vehicle fire near a residence located on 1049, First Line Road called for four Six Nations Firefighters to be dispatched at 12:18 a.m. on Monday, July 18, further being updated that a resident on the scene was undergoing chest pain within the home.
The firefighter crew arrived on scene and quickly confirmed that a vehicle was fully engulfed in fire, which had spread farther to the residence. The crew reported that the flames and heavy smoke had begun to impinge on the overhead residential hydro line as well as the natural gas metre.
“The flame and smoke was starting to hit the house, so it started to set the house on fire,” said Fire Chief Matthew Miller. “Fortunately we were able to make a very quick response time, I think we were on scene in nine minutes. We were able to fight the fire back and put it out, and at the same time we were doing that we searched the home and evacuated the three people that we found in the home and brought them out to the standing-by paramedics,” he said.
“The other problem that we had last night with the fire was as you can see, where the fire was it was right on the hydro line to the house and the natural gas metre was right next to it. So, all of that stuff basically melted, but it could have been a really big problem. Had it severed off the hose we would have had a hydro line bust around with natural gas spewing out,” he said.
Had the fire reached the leaking natural gas, more and harder to control fire or an explosion could have occurred. But, the fire itself had been reported as diffused by 12:36 a.m., and during the aggressive attack on the fire, one of the fire fighters was injured with a possible fractured or sprained ankle. Both the injured firefighter and resident were treated by the on-scene paramedics, and taken to the hospital for further assessment.
Along with stating that it is hoped the family may return to the home by the end of the day, Miller explained that what started the fire itself is quite suspicious.
“Because of the suspicious nature of the fire we secured the scene over night and asked for the assistance of the Fire Marshall, who attended today with one of the investigators,” said Miller. “We’ve been on scene all day finishing up the investigation. We don’t have a back story to release at this time, but we did find a lot of evidence,” he said.
Miller also hopes that if anyone had witnessed anything suspicious activity, he hopes they will contact the Six Nations Police to report any information by calling 519-445-2811.
